Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Abstract

Background: Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiencies in the world. So that 15% of the total world population is involved.  The present study examined the association between iron deficiency anemia and primary hypothyroidism and the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and primary hypothyroidism, respectively, in patients with iron deficiency anemia and primary hypothyroidism.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was done on 50 patients. The patients were divided in two groups. First group as iron deficiency anemia patients were tested for hypothyroidism. The Second group hypothyroidism patients were tested for iron deficiency anemia. For all the patients, laboratory tests were performed to confirm hypothyroidism and iron deficiency anemia.

Results: Total of 24 patients with hypothyroidism, 12 cases (50%) patients were found with iron deficiency. The rate of iron deficiency is 15% in normal population. Total of 26 patients with iron deficiency anemia 8 cases (30.8%) patients found with hypothyroidism. The rate of hypothyroidism is 5% in normal population. This study revealed that co-incidence of these two diseases in two groups of patients is higher than normal people.

Conclusion: According to the results obtained in this study high prevalence of primary hypothyroidism in patients with iron deficiency and the high prevalence of iron deficiency in patients with primary hypothyroidism were found. It seems that the primary hypothyroidism and iron deficiency are connected with each other. However, it is recommended to perform similar study in a larger scale in order to demonstrate the strong relationship between the two diseases.