[Correspondence] Hypothyroidism and hypertension: fact or myth?

We read with interest the thorough Seminar on hypothyroidism (Sept 23, 2017, p 1550),1 in which the authors implicate that hypothyroidism is a cause of hypertension. However, hypertension is not a typical sign of hypothyroidism. This misconception is more than 80 years old with Owen Thompson and colleagues2 reporting a high incidence of hypertension in myxoedema. Since then, many uncontrolled observational studies have shown that elevated blood pressure in patients with hypothyroidism returns to within normal range after thyroid hormone substitution.

Source: LANCET - January 5, 2018 Category: General Medicine Authors: Louis Hofstetter, Franz H Messerli Tags: Correspondence Source Type: research