New Delhi, June 9 -- Screens run late into the night, sleep arrives later than it should, and ends earlier than the body needs. The pattern repeats across months, sometimes years, before anyone connects it to the thyroid levels. As it happens, the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis, which governs thyroid hormone output, is sensitive to circadian rhythms. The body's internal clock not only regulates when we sleep but also governs when thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) peaks, when thyroid hormone production is most active, and how the immune system interacts with thyroid tissue.

"Patients with no obvious risk factors for thyroid dysfunction are showing up in endocrinology clinics with (TSH) levels that have quietly drifted out of range. W...