The prognostic significance of thyroid function in mania.
Free thyroxine index (FT4I) and thyroxine (T4) levels were measured in 31 manic patients shortly after admission to a psychiatric hospital. Over one-third had elevated thyroid hormone levels, and this was largely due to increases in FT4I. Increased FT4I levels were associated with greater sleep disturbance and with being male, and were negatively associated with having had hospital admissions in the past six months. More interestingly, however, low FT4I levels prospectively predicted more hospital admissions in the 12 months from index admission, and this was not due to past admissions predicting future admissions. This adds to the growing literature on important relationships between thyroid hormones and treatment outcome in patients with affective disorders.
Joyce
P R
PR
University Department of Psychological Medicine, Christchurch School of Medicine, New Zealand.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric; D006801:Humans; D006981:Hyperthyroxinemia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D012737:Sex Factors; D012893:Sleep Wake Disorders / Q000150:complications; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000097:blood*
D013974:Thyroxine