As millions of people worldwide have been afflicted by COVID-19, physicians and the public have wondered whether this viral infection could trigger or exacerbate thyroid disease and whether people with thyroid conditions are more vulnerable to this viral infection and whether they are less likely to fight the infection efficiently.
Most cases of thyroid disease are related to autoimmunity. However, having an autoimmune condition does not mean that your immune system is weaker. Therefore, it does not make you more likely to catch the coronavirus infection. On the other hand, autoimmunity could theoretically make you more vulnerable to more severe immune system reactivity if you ever catch the infection. Research in the future will elucidate whether having an autoimmune thyroid disease would predispose the patient to a more severe and unusual response linked to immune system reactivity.
In addition, what is often forgotten is that the optimal functioning of the immune system depends greatly on whether you have well-balanced thyroid hormone levels in your system. If you are suffering from hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism and you are not adequately treated and monitored, your immune system may as a result become weaker, which would in turn make you more vulnerable to any kind of infection. My recommendations to you as a thyroid patient suffering from Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis or Graves’ disease is to take all the measures needed to support the health of your immune system in order to minimize immune system reactivity. These measures are detailed in my comprehensive Thyroid Wellness Program. In addition, you should make sure that you are monitored with thyroid testing and that your thyroid medications are adjusted meticulously to keep your thyroid levels as perfect as possible.