Autoimmune thyroid disease may triggered by environmental agents

May 23rd, 2010

According to researchers here at the American Thyroid Association meeting on May 15, 2010, multiple genetic and environmental risk factors can trigger autoimmune thyroid disease in humans.

Professor of medicine and physiology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Gregory A. Brent, MD, showed the discovery. He said that “genetic factors accounts for about 70 percent of the risk for autoimmune thyroid disease. The rest is likely related to environmental triggers.”

Some of toxicant agents ruin iodine uptake and thyroid hormone synthesis, binding, metabolism, and action. He noted that among the more common agents that affect thyroid metabolism are thiocyanates (a compound in cigarettes), perchlorates (a rocket fuel additive), and dioxins (a class of pesticides).

Other risk factors for humans are environmental releases of radiation, environmental pollutants, medical radiation, and excess iodine intake. Medical radiation may trigger autoimmune thyroid disease and antithyroid antibodies.

autoimmune_thyroid_disease“Toxicologists want to know the dose given. For these radiation accidents, we have the best evidence of the [disease] relationship because the dose is known,” Dr. Brent added. He showed examples from selected studies in humans that demonstrated the effects of I131 releases in nuclear accidents and after the atomic bomb.

One study that followed a cohort of atomic bomb survivors found that many people developed antithyroid antibodies and hypothyroidism. The disorders manifested a U-shaped relationship, as did findings in studies of the Chernobyl survivors.

Iodine added to the diet can trigger disease in select individuals and populations, according to Dr. Brent. He noted that among people in iodine-deficient areas, giving them iodine can stimulate immune response and antibodies.

Researchers have the least evidence for environmental toxicant effects in humans, Dr. Brent stated. “A whole range of compounds are being increasingly recognized that are associated with the impairment of thyroid hormone action,” he told meeting attendees.

The thyroid is influenced by toxicants. Researchers know very little about their effects in humans. These compounds include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), pesticides, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and bisphenol A (BPA).

In experimental animals, BPA has been shown to affect thyroid receptors and thyroid function, said Dr. Brent. Although BPA is of concern now, evidence of its effects in humans is sparse. Some evidence exists for industrial exposure to other compounds, but these lack dose-response data.

The way to avoid thyroid problems is to recognize risk factors and try to avoid them, Dr. Brent said. He noted that environmental factors account for about 30% of the risk for autoimmune thyroid disease. Risk factors that are easily avoided include certain drugs, cigarette smoke, stress (although difficult to prove), selenium deficiency, and contaminated well water (perchlorates).

Source


Related post

This website uses IntenseDebate comments, but they are not currently loaded because either your browser doesn't support JavaScript, or they didn't load fast enough.

5 Responses to “Autoimmune thyroid disease may triggered by environmental agents”

  1. Cause of environmental disease Says:

    [...] Autoimmune thyroid disease may triggered by environmental agents 23 May 2010. Top incoming keywords for this article: Environmental Agents Trigger Autoimmune Thyroid Disease, environmental agents that can cause disease. – Autoimmune thyroid disease may triggered by environmental agents [...]

  2. migraine headaches Says:

    Fantastic article – The following article really blew my personal mind, and good internet site, the layout and design and style er wonderful.

  3. valerie h taylor Says:

    there is an issue now about thyroid disease caused by radiation. recently japan was rocked with 8.9 magnitude earthquake that even fukushima daichi nuclear plant. people are advice to drink iodine because radiation could affect thyroid.

    Valerie
    my blog how to detox your body naturally

  4. Carson Destiny Says:

    “The way to avoid thyroid problems is to recognize risk factors and try to avoid them.”
    This is very true. Prevention is still better than cure. If we would not the risk factors, then we would be able to avoid them. Thanks for posting this informative article.

  5. high probability trading Says:

    It is my great pleasure to visit your website and to enjoy your excellent post here. I like that very much. I can feel that you paid much attention for those articles, as all of them make sense and are very useful. Thanks so much for sharing.

Leave a Reply

COMMENT APPROVAL POLICY: [1] Please use a genuine name and email address for your comment. [2] Please use your real name, not SEO keyword text. [3] Please limit any outgoing links in your comment to a maximum of ONE, which should not be the same as you entered URL in the form. [4] Please be considerate to other commenters. [5] Please be relevant to the blog post and contribute to the discussion. [6] Blatant link generation comments that offer no value to other visitors (we get a lot of those!) will be deleted. [7] Only comments in English can be approved. Your comment may be edited or removed by a site admin if deemed necessary.

What is 8 + 5 ?
Please leave these two fields as-is:
IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-)