Articles — iron deficiency

Iron is crucial for optimal thyroid gland function and optimal thyroid hormone production. This explains that iron deficiency, in addition to causing anemia, can also lead to low thyroid hormone levels and even hypothyroidism. Because iron deficiency can be quite common during pregnancy as a result of the increased needs for the developing fetus, you need to make sure that you are not iron deficient prior to becoming pregnant or while pregnant. One of the many reasons is that iron deficiency may impair your thyroid function and can cause low thyroid hormone levels that could be detrimental to the pregnancy...

Recent recent research suggests a strong association between iron deficiency & hypothyroidism in pregnant women. In a study published in the European Journal of Endocrinology testing 1,900 women in a hospital in Brussels, Belgium, throughout the first three months of pregnancy, researchers found something interesting. About 35% of the women had low iron levels and among that group, around 20% had subclinical hypothyroidism and about 10% had high thyroid antibody levels, indicating immune system attacks on the thyroid (typically from Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or Graves’ Disease). In contrast, about 16% of women with normal iron levels had low thyroid function and...