This thyroid disease is particularly harmful to older people

Hypothyroidism occurs when the body produces too little thyroid hormone.

The thyroid hormone controls a person’s metabolism and affects the way the body uses energy, consumes oxygen and regulates temperature.

The condition occurs more often in women and people over the age of 60.

In a recent study from the University of Maryland and elsewhere, researchers found that older adults with hypothyroidism face an elevated risk of death.

But people with subclinical hypothyroidism, a milder form of an underactive thyroid, did not face the same risk.

The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. One author is Carol Chiung-Hui Peng, M.D.

The researchers reviewed the results of 27 published articles including over 1.1 million older individuals.

They found people with hypothyroidism aged 60 years or older were 26% more likely to die from all causes than individuals in the same age range who did not have the thyroid condition.

Although hypothyroidism was linked to all-cause mortality risk, the studies did not find a higher incidence of heart disease mortality.

Interestingly, studies published in Asia and North America were linked to increased all-cause mortality in the hypothyroid population, while those published in Europe and Oceania were not.

Among individuals with hypothyroidism who were 80 years old or older, the researchers found no increased risk of all-cause or heart disease mortality.

The mortality difference was not seen in older patients with milder forms of thyroid disease.

The team says this study provides further evidence to help guide the management of hypothyroidism in older adults.

The findings imply that individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism—those who have milder thyroid dysfunction—may not benefit from being treated with synthetic thyroid hormone

However, treatment should be considered in individuals diagnosed with hypothyroidism, given increased all-cause mortality.

The review is the first to evaluate and confirm the link between hypothyroidism and mortality, specifically focusing on older people.

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