Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsThyroid FunctionConcerns in Autoimmune Thyroid DiseaseGoiterEye ProblemsThyroid CancerVaping
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Thyroid Function
Concerns in Autoimmune Thyroid Disease
Goiter
Eye Problems
Thyroid Cancer
Vaping
There is no single organ system of the body in which cigarette smoking is anything less than harmful. While focus is often placed on the effects of smoking on the lungs, heart, and skin, the thyroid gland can be hurt just as much. On one hand, smoking can worsen symptoms related tohypothyroidismandHashimoto’s disease. But it can also increase the risk of developing disorders likeGrave’s diseasein the first place.
As smoking habits continue to change in the United States, with the popularization of vaping and the legalization of marijuana in many states, an increased focus has been put on the impact of these activities, if any, on thyroid health as well.
Tobacco smoke contains substances that affect both the function of thethyroid glandand the thyroid gland itself. One of the components of tobacco is cyanide which, when smoked, is converted to the chemical thiocyanate. Thiocyanate is known to interfere with thyroid function in three key ways:
Laura Porter / Verywell
Graves' Disease
Hashimoto’s Disease
The association between smoking and Hashimoto’s disease, an autoimmune disorder linked to hypothyroidism, is not as clearly defined. What is known, however, is that smoking appears to further diminish thyroid function while spurring the development ofgoiters, particularly in iodine-deficient people.
In populations with high iodine intake, smoking increases the risk of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, according to research from the University of Cincinnati. This includes the United States where the average daily intake is twice the recommended limit.
There is also evidence that smoking increases the risk of goiter irrespective of the number of cigarettes smoked. According to research published inThyroid Research and Practice,the association was mostly seen in younger women and elderly people. Younger women tended to have diffuse thyroid enlargement, while older people typically had multinodular goiters. For unknown reasons, smoking doesn’t appear to be associated with a solitary thyroid nodule.
The risk of smoking-induced goiter is believed to be highest in populations with an iodine deficiency. This is seen in countries like the Philippines where goiter is prevalent, mild iodine deficiency is endemic, and 28% of the population smokes.
A study conducted in 2014 concluded that smokers with Graves' disease were more likely to experience rapid eye deterioration, including the development of double vision, the constriction of eye movement, and irreversible optic nerve damage.
Graves' ophthalmopathy can appear for the first time after RAI treatment in smokers. Furthermore, treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy (traditionally with steroids and radioiodine) is seen to be four times less effective in smokers than in non-smokers.
Thyroid canceris today the eighth most common cancer in women. While it may seem logical to assume that smoking is a risk factor, as it is with lung and throat cancer, studies thus far have been largely contradictory.
A study released in 2012 reported that among 331 women with thyroid cancer, there was no difference in the incidence of disease between women who smoked and those who didn’t. In fact, the study suggested that smokers had a modestreductionin thyroid cancer risk, a result the investigators found “disquieting.“
Other studies have since mirrored the results, albeit more indifferentiated (mature) cancersthan undifferentiated (immature) cancer.
It is possible that smoking may have a greater impact on a developing thyroid tumor than an existing one.
As more people turn to cigarette alternatives, interest in the health effects of practices like vaping (smoking e-cigarettes) is sure to grow. Unfortunately, little is known about the impact of these options on the thyroid.
Compared to tobacco and even cannabis, scientists know far less about the effects of vaping on thyroid function.
What has come to light in recent years is that nicotine withdrawal is associated with a drop in T3/T4 levels, according to research from Temple University in Philadelphia.What this suggests is that nicotine replacement via vaping or other means may help maintain hormonal output in people with thyroid problems who are trying to quit. With that being said, vaping is increasingly being linked to lung illnesses.This has prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to recommend refraining from all vaping products.
Thyroid hormone replacement therapy, using the druglevothyroxine, also appears to minimize symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. This means that people on levothyroxine who are planning to quit may benefit from frequent blood monitoring and an increase in their levothyroxine dose as needed.
A Word From Verywell
Whatever perceived benefits cigarettes offer pales in comparison to the benefits of stopping. In the end, there is no overlooking the fact that smoking will only worsen thyroid symptoms, speed the progression of the disease, and make thyroid treatment less effective. This goes for all forms of thyroid disease, including thyroid cancer; smoking can increase the risk of metastasis, spreading cancer beyond the site of the tumor to other parts of the body.
Most insurance plans today offer freesmoking cessationtreatment as part of their annual benefits. If you have trouble kicking the habit, speak with your healthcare provider about pharmaceutical options that may help.
Why Your Thyroid Levels May Be Fluctuating
8 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sawicka-gutaj N, Gutaj P, Sowiński J, et al.Influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid gland–an update.Endokrynol Pol. 2014;65(1):54-62. doi:10.5603/EP.2014.0008Steinmaus C, Miller MD, Cushing L, Blount BC, Smith AH.Combined effects of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and iodine on thyroid function in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-08.Environ Res. 2013;123:17-24. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2013.01.005Huber A, Menconi F, Corathers S, Jacobson EM, Tomer Y.Joint genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis: from epidemiology to mechanisms.Endocr Rev. 2008;29(6):697-725. doi:10.1210/er.2008-0015Singh Balhara, Y. and Sinha Deb, K.Impact of tobacco on thyroid function.Thyroid Res Prac.2014:11(1):6-16. doi:10.4103/0973-0354.124187.Kabat GC, Kim MY, Wactawski-wende J, Rohan TE.Smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to risk of thyroid cancer in postmenopausal women.Cancer Epidemiol. 2012;36(4):335-40. doi:10.1016/j.canep.2012.03.013Leach PT, Holliday E, Kutlu MG, Gould TJ.Withdrawal from chronic nicotine reduces thyroid hormone levels and levothyroxine treatment ameliorates nicotine withdrawal-induced deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning in C57BL/6J mice.Nicotine Tob Res. 2015;17(6):690-6. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntu229U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Lung illnesses associated with use of vaping products.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
8 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Sawicka-gutaj N, Gutaj P, Sowiński J, et al.Influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid gland–an update.Endokrynol Pol. 2014;65(1):54-62. doi:10.5603/EP.2014.0008Steinmaus C, Miller MD, Cushing L, Blount BC, Smith AH.Combined effects of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and iodine on thyroid function in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-08.Environ Res. 2013;123:17-24. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2013.01.005Huber A, Menconi F, Corathers S, Jacobson EM, Tomer Y.Joint genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis: from epidemiology to mechanisms.Endocr Rev. 2008;29(6):697-725. doi:10.1210/er.2008-0015Singh Balhara, Y. and Sinha Deb, K.Impact of tobacco on thyroid function.Thyroid Res Prac.2014:11(1):6-16. doi:10.4103/0973-0354.124187.Kabat GC, Kim MY, Wactawski-wende J, Rohan TE.Smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to risk of thyroid cancer in postmenopausal women.Cancer Epidemiol. 2012;36(4):335-40. doi:10.1016/j.canep.2012.03.013Leach PT, Holliday E, Kutlu MG, Gould TJ.Withdrawal from chronic nicotine reduces thyroid hormone levels and levothyroxine treatment ameliorates nicotine withdrawal-induced deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning in C57BL/6J mice.Nicotine Tob Res. 2015;17(6):690-6. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntu229U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Lung illnesses associated with use of vaping products.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Sawicka-gutaj N, Gutaj P, Sowiński J, et al.Influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid gland–an update.Endokrynol Pol. 2014;65(1):54-62. doi:10.5603/EP.2014.0008Steinmaus C, Miller MD, Cushing L, Blount BC, Smith AH.Combined effects of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and iodine on thyroid function in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-08.Environ Res. 2013;123:17-24. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2013.01.005Huber A, Menconi F, Corathers S, Jacobson EM, Tomer Y.Joint genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis: from epidemiology to mechanisms.Endocr Rev. 2008;29(6):697-725. doi:10.1210/er.2008-0015Singh Balhara, Y. and Sinha Deb, K.Impact of tobacco on thyroid function.Thyroid Res Prac.2014:11(1):6-16. doi:10.4103/0973-0354.124187.Kabat GC, Kim MY, Wactawski-wende J, Rohan TE.Smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to risk of thyroid cancer in postmenopausal women.Cancer Epidemiol. 2012;36(4):335-40. doi:10.1016/j.canep.2012.03.013Leach PT, Holliday E, Kutlu MG, Gould TJ.Withdrawal from chronic nicotine reduces thyroid hormone levels and levothyroxine treatment ameliorates nicotine withdrawal-induced deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning in C57BL/6J mice.Nicotine Tob Res. 2015;17(6):690-6. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntu229U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Lung illnesses associated with use of vaping products.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
Sawicka-gutaj N, Gutaj P, Sowiński J, et al.Influence of cigarette smoking on thyroid gland–an update.Endokrynol Pol. 2014;65(1):54-62. doi:10.5603/EP.2014.0008
Steinmaus C, Miller MD, Cushing L, Blount BC, Smith AH.Combined effects of perchlorate, thiocyanate, and iodine on thyroid function in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2007-08.Environ Res. 2013;123:17-24. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2013.01.005
Huber A, Menconi F, Corathers S, Jacobson EM, Tomer Y.Joint genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes and autoimmune thyroiditis: from epidemiology to mechanisms.Endocr Rev. 2008;29(6):697-725. doi:10.1210/er.2008-0015
Singh Balhara, Y. and Sinha Deb, K.Impact of tobacco on thyroid function.Thyroid Res Prac.2014:11(1):6-16. doi:10.4103/0973-0354.124187.
Kabat GC, Kim MY, Wactawski-wende J, Rohan TE.Smoking and alcohol consumption in relation to risk of thyroid cancer in postmenopausal women.Cancer Epidemiol. 2012;36(4):335-40. doi:10.1016/j.canep.2012.03.013
Leach PT, Holliday E, Kutlu MG, Gould TJ.Withdrawal from chronic nicotine reduces thyroid hormone levels and levothyroxine treatment ameliorates nicotine withdrawal-induced deficits in hippocampus-dependent learning in C57BL/6J mice.Nicotine Tob Res. 2015;17(6):690-6. doi:10.1093/ntr/ntu229
U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Lung illnesses associated with use of vaping products.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarette, or vaping, products.
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