Moderate Alcohol Consumption is Protective Against Hashimoto’s Disease!

August 1, 2016

Author: Pavan Rajput

Are you aware that about 3.5% of all the deaths in United States are attributed to alcohol consumption? It is no surprise that excessive intake of alcohol can make you more prone to a variety of physical, metabolic and mental health issues. But according to a new case-control study reported in the European Journal of Endocrinology (1), investigators suggested that moderate consumption of alcohol can actually minimize the risk of developing autoimmune thyroid disorders like Hashimoto’s disease! Allan Carlé and associates identified that individuals with moderate consumption of alcohol (corresponding to 11–20 drinks/week) are 4-times less likely to develop hypothyroidism when compared to those with little to no alcohol consumption (up to 1-10 units/week). 1 unit of alcohol corresponds to about 12g of alcohol. It is noteworthy that the protective effects of alcohol are irrespective of gender or nature of alcohol consumed (wine, beer etc.). Although it is not clearly known how alcohol consumption minimizes the risk of overt hypothyroidism, investigators proposed that alcohol may dampen or alters the immune responses in humans and animal subjects as suggested by several studies (2). Besides Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, moderate alcoholism is also believed to reduce the risk of several other autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, type 1 diabetes, Grave’s disease and system lupus erythematous.

Is Alcohol consumption protective against other Thyroid conditions?

Thyroid nodules:In a recent study, investigators discovered that moderate alcohol consumption (corresponding to 8-42 drinks/weeks in men or 8–28 drinks/week in women) is associated with a significantly lower risk of developing thyroid nodules or goiter compared to abstainers or those who consume 7 or less drinks/week (3).
Thyroid Cancer: Moderate alcohol consumption is also associated with a lower risk of developing thyroid cancer. The anti-cancer effects are mainly mediated by the negative association between alcohol intake and serum TSH levels. Clinical study indicates that high TSH (or Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is linked to proliferation or growth of thyroid follicles.

Conclusion

Although moderate intake of alcohol is believed to reduce the risk of autoimmune hypothyroidism, it is still too early to encourage moderate alcohol intake, especially when it plays a direct role in the pathogenesis of 60 other chronic diseases