Hypothyroidism can affect your mood, body weight, energy level, and many other health factors. But can it affect your children? Is that even possible?
Yes, says a new study published in the American Journal of Perinatology. And this may actually be one of the greatest problems with the younger generation.
Since the hormones secreted by our thyroids are important for our own growth and development, it is not difficult to understand why researchers wondered whether hypothyroidism diagnosed before or during pregnancy could affect the baby’s cognitive development. Previous research also shows that a mother’s thyroid hormones are extremely important for fetal development.
But there is another reason that this question is worth pursuing. Cognitive and neurodevelopmental disorders like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy are becoming increasingly common among children.
Many available studies examine what these children do differently from their predecessors. But maybe a better question is what their parents are doing differently, or how the parents differ from their predecessors, especially mothers.
In this new study, the researchers focused on ADHD because this is by far the most common neurodevelopmental disorder in the United States.
The scientists collected data from southern California hospitals, and the medical information for the mothers and children was recorded together. The children were observed for at least 17 years, which gave enough information for a thorough study.
The sample contained both males and females and people of different ethnicities. Overall, 329,157 mother-child pairs were examined.
They discovered some interesting facts.
- When hypothyroidism was diagnosed prior to pregnancy, the offspring were 27% more likely to have ADHD than those of mothers without hypothyroidism.
- When hypothyroidism was diagnosed within the first three months of pregnancy, the offspring were 28% more likely to have ADHD.
- For children who were born pre-term, their risk of ADHD increased by 43%, but only if the mothers’ hypothyroidism was diagnosed prior to their pregnancies.
- For boys, the increased risk was 26%, and for girls it was 19%.
- The risk for Hispanic children increased by 45%, the highest of all ethnic groups. The risk for white children whose mothers had hypothyroidism increased by 22%.
Other demographic factors like age during pregnancy, household income, education, employment, etc. did not have an effect.
The mothers’ thyroid hormone levels also had no effect after the first trimester of pregnancy, probably because fetuses start to produce their own thyroid hormones by then.
