The electrolytes imbalance between hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism

Introduction: Thyroid hormone is one of the central regulator of body functions. The effect of thyroid hormones on electrolytes has not been well established and the underlying mechanisms are not well understood. Only few data on the association between thyroid function and electrolyte disorders exists. Thus our aim was to find out the electrolytes imbalance between hypo and hyperthyroidism and their correlation. Materials and Methods: 60 patients and 30 controls were included in this study. Thyroid hormones (T3, T4 and TSH) were measured by Beckman coulter Access-2 auto analyser and Serum sodium, potassium and chlorides were estimated using Ion Selective Electrodes. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS 16. Results: Patients with hypothyroidism showed significant decrease in serum sodium, potassium and chloride levels (p<0.05) and Patients with hyperthyroidism showed significant increase in serum potassium levels (p<0.05). When correlated with TSH, Serum sodium and potassium showed negative correlation where it has positive for serum chloride in case of hypothyroidism. For hyperthyroid patients, correlation was negative for serum sodium and chloride whereas positive for serum potassium. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that the serum electrolytes were significantly imbalanced in hypothyroid and hyperthyroidism patients. They should be regularly checked for serum electrolytes to prevent possible complications.