Читать книгу The Healthy Thyroid: What you can do to prevent and alleviate thyroid imbalance - Patsy Westcott - Страница 45

Mental sluggishness is a commonly reported effect of hypothyroidism. Your brain feels like cottonwool, and you find it difficult to pay attention, to concentrate and to remember. There may be a time lag while you try to recall events, and even familiar names or facts can be elusive – a mental state typically described as ‘feeling in a fog’.

One of the biggest bones of contention is the relationship between thyroid problems, depression and mood swings. In a letter to the British Medical Journal (October 2000), consultant psychiatrist Martin Eales outlined his belief that faulty thyroid function – including so-called mild or subclinical thyroid problems – is a significant factor in triggering depression and the failure of some people to respond to treatment with antidepressants, and can aggravate mood swings in manic-depression (known medically as bipolar disorder). This idea receives some support from the fact that antithyroid peroxidase antibodies, associated with hypothyroidism, have been found in people with manic-depression. In rare instances, there may be more severe mental disturbances, such as paranoia (feelings of persecution). These symptoms – at one time cruelly described as ‘myxoedematous madness’ – quickly disappear once treatment to correct the underactive thyroid is begun.