Alzghoul, Bashar N, Amer, Farah N, Barb, Diana et al. · ERJ open research · 2021 · DOI
This study looked at how common thyroid problems are in sarcoidosis patients and how they relate to other symptoms. Researchers found that about 1 in 7 sarcoidosis patients reported having an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), and these patients were more likely to experience fatigue, depression, sleep problems, and difficulty with physical activities. The study suggests that checking for thyroid problems might help doctors better manage sarcoidosis symptoms.
ME/CFS patients often experience overlapping symptoms with sarcoidosis, including fatigue, sleep disturbances, and depression. This study demonstrates that thyroid dysfunction is a common comorbidity associated with nonorgan-specific manifestations including chronic fatigue, suggesting that routine thyroid screening may identify a potentially reversible contributor to symptoms in complex immunological conditions.
This study does not establish that hypothyroidism causes fatigue or depression in sarcoidosis patients—only that they occur together. The self-reported nature of hypothyroidism diagnosis (without laboratory thyroid function tests) means some cases may be misclassified. The cross-sectional design cannot determine whether hypothyroidism develops as a consequence of sarcoidosis or is an independent comorbidity.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Alzghoul, Bashar N, Amer, Farah N, Barb, Diana, Innabi, Ayoub, Mardini, Mamoun T, Bai, Chen, et al. (2021). Prevalence and characteristics of self-reported hypothyroidism and its association with nonorgan-specific manifestations in US sarcoidosis patients: a nationwide registry study.. ERJ open research. https://doi.org/10.1183/23120541.00754-2020
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-alzghoul-2021-prevalence-characteristics,
author = {Alzghoul, Bashar N and Amer, Farah N and Barb, Diana and Innabi, Ayoub and Mardini, Mamoun T and Bai, Chen and Alzghoul, Bara and Al-Hakim, Tamara and Singh, Noopur and Buchanan, Mindy and Serchuck, Leslie and Gomez Manjarres, Diana and Woodmansee, Whitney W and Maier, Lisa A and Patel, Divya C},
title = {Prevalence and characteristics of self-reported hypothyroidism and its association with nonorgan-specific manifestations in US sarcoidosis patients: a nationwide registry study.},
journal = {ERJ open research},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1183/23120541.00754-2020},
note = {PubMed: 33816601},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/alzghoul-2021-prevalence-characteristics},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-28. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/alzghoul-2021-prevalence-characteristics
Contribute
Private, reviewed by a human. Not a public comment thread.