The Association Between Obesity and the Thyroid: Is the “Chicken or the Egg” Conundrum Finally Solved?

It has long been known that thyroid hormones exert specific effects on metabolism by regulation of basal metabolic rate, increase in peripheral oxygen consumption, and promotion lipolysis, glycogenolysis glyconeogenesis (1). Hypothyroidism associated with a lower rate therefore linked to obesity. In fact, the use hormone preparations encouraged past aim weight reduction euthyroid obese patients. Due undesired iatrogenic thyrotoxicosis, this practice was abandoned. Levothyroxine replacement overtly hypothyroid patients indeed shown cause significant reduction, although loss occurs at expense body water content rather than fat (2). Both subclinical hypothyroidism individuals, variations serum thyrotropin (TSH) have correlate positively mass index (BMI) waist circumference, as observed syndrome...