INS and diabetes mellitus: As smoking, diabetes mellitus and severe or familial hyperlipidemia were exclusion criteria [15], and the other atherogenic factors such as abdominal obesity, hypertension, fasting glycemia and insulin levels, and lipidemia typifying the study population did not influence the association between auto-immune thyroiditis and IMT, it can be said that Hashimoto's thyroiditis seems to be an independent cardiovascular risk factor.