Mental and Cognitive Disorders in Older People With Subclinical Thyroid Conditions

Mila Vasilj Mihaljevic^1,2, Zvonimir Bosnic^3,4, Karolina Veselski⁵, Domagoj Vucic⁶, Ljiljana Trtica Majnaric^2,4*

¹The Health Centre Vukovar, Vukovar, Croatia
²Department of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and the History of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Josipa Huttlera 4, Osijek, Croatia
³The Health Centre Slavonski Brod, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
⁴Department of Public health, Faculty of Dental Medicine and Health, Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek, Crkvena 21, Osijek, Croatia
⁵Department of ENT, Dr. Josip Bencevic General Hospital, Slavonski Brod, Croatia
⁶Department of Cardiology, Dr. Josip Bencevic General Hospital, Slavonski Brod, Croatia

Dr. Ljiljana Trtica Majnaric, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine and the History of Medicine & Faculty of Dental Medicine & Health, Dept. of Public Health, University of Osijek, Croatia.

Keywords: Aging; Subclinical Thyroid Conditions; Cognitive Function Decline; Mental Disorders

Abstract

It is well known that thyroid disorders are associated with impairments in cognitive function and the appearance of symptoms of mental disorders. Thyroid hormone replacement therapy was shown to ameliorate these symptoms. During aging, subtle changes in regulation of the hypothalamus-pituitary- thyroid axis and in serum concentrations of the pituitary thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) can be observed, along with decreased sensitivity of peripheral tissues to thyroid hormones. Since decline in cognitive function is concomitant to aging, there is a question on the influence of these subtle changes in serum thyroid hormone concentrations on age-related cognitive decline. Due to the fact that both, the progression of cognitive function decline, and the appearance of symptoms of mental disorders, in older people, are depended on accumulation of comorbidities during aging, associations of these disorders with subclinical thyroid conditions should be assessed in the context of age and the existing comorbidity patterns.

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).