What diseases can hypothyroidism cause? Is it serious?

Many friends may not have heard of what hypothyroidism is. Simply put, hypothyroidism is actually an endocrine disorder in the body and can lead to other diseases. Once everyone understands the disease it causes, they will definitely pay attention to hypothyroidism.

1. Hypothyroidism combined with scleroderma.

In rare cases, hypothyroidism may be combined with scleroderma with Raynaud's phenomenon, which is characterized by cyanosis, numbness, and pain in the extremities, which are often triggered in winter or by cold. The skin on the face and limbs becomes thin and hard, with bluish purple extremities, and the movement of the limbs is slow and limited. Hypothyroidism is a complication of hypothyroidism combined with scleroderma.

2. Hypothyroidism Heart Disease

Patients with hypothyroidism may experience palpitations, shortness of breath, hypotension, slow and weak pulse, dull and distant heart sounds on auscultation; the heart is enlarged, and the incidence of pericardial effusion is 25% to 40%. Even with a large effusion, symptoms of cardiac tamponade rarely occur. Common electrocardiogram findings include low voltage, sinus tachycardia, ST-T changes, and the most common arrhythmias are premature beats, atrioventricular block, incomplete and complete left bundle branch block, which are complications of hypothyroidism.

3. Myxedema coma

The disease usually starts in winter, with cold and infection being the most common causes. There is often a history of drowsiness before coma. Patients have various manifestations of myxedema, including shock, dry and cold skin, yellow-white swollen face, dry lips, enlarged tongue, sparse eyebrows and eyelashes, and hair loss. The limbs are soft, the reflexes are weak or even absent, and the tendon reflex relaxation time is significantly prolonged, which are complications of hypothyroidism.

4. Hypothyroidism combined with blood system diseases

Anemia is a common symptom of hypothyroidism. It is not uncommon for it to be misdiagnosed as the main symptom of hypothyroidism. Its incidence accounts for 1/3 to 2/3 of patients with hypothyroidism. The vast majority of them are mild to moderate normochromic or hypochromic microcytic anemia, and a few are megaloblastic anemia. Lack of gastric acid, menorrhagia, slow gastrointestinal motility, iron absorption disorders and loss of appetite are the main causes of iron deficiency anemia and complications of hypothyroidism.