Two million Indians living with thyroid disorders, reveals study

New Delhi: Nearly 42 million people in India suffer from thyroid disorders, said a study conducted by SRL Diagnostics, a leading diagnostic chain in India, based on a three-year long survey done across India.

According to a survey, there are are 200 million people worldwide who have thyroid related problems, as per media reports.

In a research conducted by SRL Diagnostics, more than 20 lakh samples screened for thyroid disorders and among them 25.3 percent of the people had abnormal levels of the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH).

According to the survey, this problem was found more among women than men as women reported higher percentage of abnormality (26%) as compared to men (24%).

The highest prevalence of abnormal thyroid values was seen in the eastern zone of the country (27% of the samples) followed by North India (26 percent). 

The southern and western part of the country reported the least prevalence of TSH abnormal levels with 22 percent of its population suffering from the disorder.

Dr Leena, director Fortis Labs told media, "There is a need for reaching out to the mass on awareness of the causes, symptoms, treatment and importance of testing for thyroid disorders." 

"However our analysis result cannot be extrapolated to infer population prevalence of thyroid disorder as for that a nationwide systematic disease survey should be done" she added.

Thyroid hormones are very important for development and with increasing age it becomes more common. 

To note stress is also one of the major factors that adversely affects the thyroid gland.