Thyroid dysfunction in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this research was to elucidate some of the major relation of thyroid dysfunctions, keeping in view the various selected demographic details of included patients. METHODS: This study was approved by the ethical committee of Post Graduate Medical Institute (PGMI) Hayatabad Medical Complex Peshawar, and was conducted in the Institute of Radioactive Nuclear Medicine (IRNUM) Peshawar. The blood samples were collected, followed by their analysis for triiodothyronine (T(3)), tetraiodothyronine (T(4)) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH). RESULTS: The results obtained regarding the demographical aspects of the patients revealed that female gender has categorically significantly high percentage of occurrence of thyroid abnormality as compared to male gender (75.8% vs. 24.2%). Results regarding locality distribution of the patients depicted that majority of those belonged to the local population of Peshawar and Charsadda region. CONCLUSION: In Pakistan especially Khyber Pakhtunkwa (KPK), thyroid diseases are more common in females as compared to males. The most probable causes could be lactation and pregnancy.