Affiliations: [a] Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation,
School of Medicine, Akdeniz University, Antalya, Turkey | [b] Medical Park Hospital, Antalya,
Turkey
Note: [] Address for correspondence: Hilal Kocabas, Akdeniz Universitesi,
Tı p Fakültesi, Fiziksel Tı p ve Rehabilitasyon Anabilim Dalı,
Romatoloji Bilim Dalı, Antalya, TR-07058, Turkey. Tel.: +90 242 2496676; Fax:
+90 242 2274490; E-mail: hllkocabas@yahoo.com
Abstract: Skeletal muscle weakness is a frequent symptom of thyroid
dysfunction. Both hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism may cause signs and
symptoms of neuromuscular dysfunction. It has been reported in previous studies
that muscle strength recovers after treatment of thyroid dysfunction. The aim
of the current study was to evaluate knee extensors and flexors strength in
patients with thyroid dysfunction before and after medical treatment and
compare the data with those of a matched control group. For this purpose 11
hyperthyroid, 9 hypothyroid patients and 27 healthy controls were recruited.
All were tested isokinetically on the dominant side. The results suggest that
return of thyroid hormone concentrations to their reference ranges,
significantly increases muscular strength in hyperthyroid patients. However
there was no significant recovery in the hypothyroid group. Nevertheless in
both groups post-treatment muscle strength was significantly lower than in the
control group. The findings suggest that patients with thyroid dysfunction,
especially with hypothyroidism, should train for muscle strengthening after
establishing euthyroidism to obtain optimum life conditions.
