Research

Hormonal

Thyroid dysfunction (both hypo- and hyperthyroidism) is bidirectionally associated with metabolic syndrome components, where thyroid hormones regulate metabolic rate, adiposity, and glucose/lipid metabolism, while adiposity and insulin resistance reciprocally affect thyroid function via leptin and inflammatory cytokines.

If you have metabolic syndrome or obesity, your thyroid health is likely affected, and vice versa. High TSH is associated with higher risk of metabolic syndrome components like high blood pressure, triglycerides, and insulin resistance. Conversely, losing weight and improving insulin sensitivity can improve thyroid function markers. Do not assume treating thyroid levels alone will resolve metabolic issues; address adiposity and insulin resistance concurrently.

ModerateQualifiesMEDIUM confidence
MetS development and weight gain have been positively associated with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in several studies. Adverse glucose metabolism may be related to hyperthyroidism, but also to reduction of thyroid function or higher serum TSH... Hypo- and hyperthyroidism have been related to higher blood pressure (BP)... In a bidirectional way, thyroid function is affected by adiposity. Leptin is one of the hallmarks, but the pro-inflammatory cytokines and also insulin resistance impact thyroid function and perhaps its structure.
Patrícia de Fátima dos Santos Teixeira et al. · Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2020

Why this rating

The paper is a review of observational and longitudinal studies, noting that cause-consequence is hard to establish in sectional studies and that longitudinal studies show bidirectional pathways.

Source

The role of thyroid hormone in metabolism and metabolic syndrome

Patrícia de Fátima dos Santos Teixeira et al. · Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism · 2020

DOI 10.1177/2042018820917869

narrative_reviewCited 224×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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