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Association between generalized anxiety disorder, serum TSH and cortisol level

Mohammed Nadeem
Department of Biochemistry, Churu Medical College, Rajasthan

Ritu Sharma
Department of Biochemistry, Government Medical College, Kota, Rajasthan

Shravan Meena
Department of Biochemistry, Sikar Medical College, Rajasthan

Background: Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorder, often affecting everyday functioning of young adults. Anxiety disorders affect the way a person thinks, feels, and behaves and, if not treated, can cause considerable distress and disruption to the person’s life. Presently, there are no diagnostic modalities available to confirm the diagnosis and predict the outcome.

Objectives: To find out causal relationship between serum TSH, serum cortisol and generalized anxiety disorders (GAD). Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted on 60 cases suffering from GAD and 60 healthy controls those does not have any past and present history of psychiatric disorders in tertiary health care institute. Serum cortisol was measured by ELISA. Serum TSH was estimated by electro chemiluminescence immunoassay.

Results: We found statistically significant low levels of serum TSH (p<0.001) and increased level of serum cortisol in GAD cases as compared to healthy controls.

Conclusion: Mental health issues are commonly seen in hormonal disorders. Thyroid dysfunction especially hypothyroidism may be associated with GAD. Alteration in serum cortisol was also seen. There is need of further studies to establish diagnostic or therapeutic importance of these biomarkers in GAD

Key words: Generalized anxiety disorder, TSH, Serum Cortisol, Psychiatric disorder,

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