The recent coronavirus pandemic, with its multiple mutations, each bringing with it a wave of concern and fear, has caused worry in the highest levels of the medical profession. Partly this is due to the issues with trying to explain probability to a fearful population: you might get the disease, you might get it very badly, you might need a ventilator and in worst case scenarios you might die, are all truths, but these are undermined by laypeople not catching the disease easily, or getting it but only suffering minor symptoms, and bouncing back, just as they would from a more mild virus. But all it means is that the person is lucky. Let us look at it in more detail.
Pre-existing Thyroid Issues
There was a large concern within the medical profession about patients with existing conditions when it was noticed that Covid-19 was attacking the body in unusual ways. The virus flooded the whole body, causing symptoms wherever it ended up, and there was a concern that an already dysfunctional thyroid would be susceptible to damage.
The good news is that this does not seem to be the case. Patients with autoimmune thyroid conditions, like Graves and Hashimoto’s Disease are not immunocompromised, which means they are not at high risk of suffering the worst of Covid symptoms should they become infected. Patients with hypo- or hyperthyroidism who are taking T3 or T4 to stabilise and normalise their thyroxine levels do not show higher levels of infection than other sections of the population. This seems like a good reason to ensure medication levels are maintained – get your Armour Thyroid UK at InternationalPharmacy.com!
New Thyroid Issues in Covid Patients
Now the not so good news. In studies of hospitalised Covid patients with no previous diagnosis of thyroid issues, as many as 15% to 30% were found to have one of three different thyroid conditions. These new diagnoses tended to present in the most ill patients, but the thyroid function and hormone levels did return to normal as the patient shook off the virus in most cases.
A separate Italian study watched two groups of patients: one group with Covid and no known thyroid issues and another with no Covid and no known thyroid issues. Thyroid dysfunction was uncovered in 1% of the control group and a staggering 15% of the Covid group, showing that both studies were tracking similar results. The Italian study did not examine the thyroid function of patients on respirators due to the difficulty of accessing samples and ethical considerations.
Long Covid Concerns
Long Covid is the name given to the lingering effects of the coronavirus infection. While in many people it can feel like a bad dose of the flu, with full recovery coming along after a week or ten days, in some the virus lingers. It infiltrates the body, from the lungs to the toes, leaving a range of symptoms and issues that refuse to heal. One of these might be Costochondritis, which can be brought on by viral infections. People who have developed this want to know – “how long does costochondritis last?” – unfortunately that does depend on the individual, and after getting over Covid, they may have another long wait on their hands.
While, as mentioned above, thyroid function returns to normal as the virus is beaten off by the immune system, there is not enough data yet to know if patients with long covid will suffer long-term thyroid issues. This is one reason – amongst several – why the medical profession is concerned about vaccinating as many people as possible, boosting those who are eligible and working to avoid infection and transmission where possible. Taking a chance that all will be well is just too uncertain, even at this stage in the pandemic…
