title: Thyroid abnormalities during chronic lithium treatment in Hong Kong Chinese: a controlled study.
abstract: Fifty Chinese psychiatric patients on chronic lithium treatment and the same number of sex- and age-matched control outpatients were assessed by a thyroidologist and underwent laboratory investigations. Lithium patients had a higher rate of goitres (50% vs 10%, P < 0.0001) and a higher mean TSH level (P < 0.005) than controls. Thyroid antibodies were detected in 7 older manic-depressive patients as opposed to 1 control, but not in patients with recurrent unipolar mania. Five patients, but no controls, had single or multiple episodes of hyperthyroidism, which was followed in 2 of them by biochemical hypothyroidism. It is suggested that variations in iodine status, dietary goitrogens, immunogenetic makeup and their complex interactions with chronic lithium treatment may contribute to ethnically different patterns of thyroid abnormalities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chow
authors.forename: Y K
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Wing
authors.forename: C C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Shek
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000032:analysis; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D006042:Goiter / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D016651:Lithium Carbonate / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000276:immunology; D013963:Thyroid Hormones / Q000097:blood; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000097:blood / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000175:diagnosis; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D013963:Thyroid Hormones; D016651:Lithium Carbonate; D013972:Thyrotropin