Got Hives? Get your Thyroid Checked!

A large percentage of people with chronic urticaria, or hives, have an underlying autoimmune process as the cause of their symptoms. In the past, a small percentage of people with chronic urticaria were found to have other common autoimmune diseases, such as hypothyroidism. Some of these people had improvement of their hives if their thyroid disease was treated.

A recent study by a group of allergies in Illinois found that a larger percentage of people with chronic urticaria have thyroid disease than previous thought -- up to 20%. The study showed that a number of these people had improvement of their hives when the low thyroid function was treated.

So, if you're a person who is dealing with chronic hives, you may want to see if low thyroid function is the cause of your symptoms.