Subclinical hyperthyroidism usually refers to a condition whereby too much hormones are produced by an overactive thyroid gland. These hormones are usually the ones which control the basic metabolism even though no symptoms exist and the blood tests show normal readings of the hormones. According to researchers concluded in the past, cases of hyperthyroidism that are more pronounced usually come with an increased risk of fracture as explained by the reviewers. However, this is not clear entirely as to whether the same is true for types of the condition that are milder.

13 studies done in the past were looked at by reviewers from Swiss and over 70000 patients were involved in efforts of trying to get answers to the question. Previously, there has been a couple of studies, which have suggested that a high risk of fractures exist but researchers were not very clear as to whether a real association does exist or not. Nicholas Rodondi who led the study said that based on their work, it is very clear that such patients usually have a much higher risk of getting a fracture.

Why this is the case

Rodondi said that it was not very clear. However, they know too well that thyroid hormones usually affect bone metabolism directly and an increase in the function of thyroid could increase the impact of metabolism on the bones. One of the explanations given by the researchers as to these happenings is that thyroid hormones tend to impact directly on bone metabolism with an increase in the functioning of thyroid increasing the metabolic effect on the bones. A good explanation for this is the accelerated turnover of bones that results with the destruction of bones increasing while being accompanied by re-modeling. The findings of the study were published in Journal of the American Medical Association.

The risk of fracture and hypothyroidism

In the various patients studied, about 3 percent of them had subclinical hyperthyroidism and about 6% of them had an opposite problem that is referred to as hypothyroidism. The review team ultimately didn’t find any link between an increase in the risk of fracture and hypothyroidism, otherwise known as underactive thyroid. However, those having a thyroid that is symptomless but overactive didn’t seem to have an increased risk of being diagnosed with breakage of bones in the spinal regions and in the hip. These findings essentially held up despite the gender or age even though the researchers said that they didn’t have sufficient data that would warrant them commenting on the way the race could figure out in the equation. Even though this study showed a good linkage between fracture risk and mild hyperthyroidism, it didn’t prove that fractures can be caused by the condition.