Pregnancy Archive

Undetected low levels of thyroid hormone may underlie subtle changes that can increase your risk of cardiovascular disease.

For a gland only two inches in size, the thyroid has a huge influence on our health. It produces a hormone that is carried in the bloodstream to all parts of the body. Thyroid hormone plays a major role in regulating metabolism—the process by which body cells convert nutrients into energy—and thereby helps regulate body temperature, heart rate, and even brain function. So when thyroid hormone levels fall, the body slows.

You're probably aware of the common symptoms of low thyroid hormone—fatigue, fuzzy-headedness, weight gain, cold hands, and dry skin. But if you're like most of us, you're likely to blame your diet and exercise regimen instead of your thyroid if your cholesterol levels and weight are creeping up, especially if you don't have any of the other symptoms of low thyroid. "Symptoms are often nonspecific, and since women over 60 generally have more of these nonspecific symptoms, their doctors may not think to test for hypothyroidism," says endocrinologist Dr. Jeffrey Garber, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of The Harvard Medical School Guide to Overcoming Thyroid Problems.

Research we're watching

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Anti-inflammatory medications may play a role in ovarian cancer risk. A study by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that taking low-dose aspirin regularly appears to reduce the risk of ovarian cancer by 23%. However, long-term heavy use of ibuprofen (Advil), naproxen (Aleve), and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) seems to increase risk.

The study, published online October 4 by JAMA Oncology, looked at data on more than 200,000 women who participated in the Nurses' Health Study and Nurses' Health Study II. Among the group studied, 1,054 women went on to develop ovarian cancer. Researchers then looked at what type of medications the women took on a regular basis. They found that women who took at least 10 doses of NSAIDs a week for multiple years had an increased risk of ovarian cancer. Women who took low-dose aspirin regularly seemed to have a reduced risk — but the same was not true among women who took a standard-dose aspirin.

Research we're watching

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A small study found that babies conceived using assisted reproductive technology (ART) may be more likely to have high blood pressure as teenagers than those conceived naturally.

Close to 2% of babies born in the United States are conceived using ART, most commonly by in vitro fertilization, in which sperm and egg are mixed in a lab dish. In 2012, researchers found that healthy kids born via ART were more likely than their peers to have signs of premature aging of their blood vessels.