A recent study from the University of Maryland and elsewhere found that older adults with hypothyroidism face an elevated risk of death.
Hypothyroidism occurs when the body produces too little thyroid hormone.
But people with subclinical hypothyroidism, a milder form of an under-active 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 thyroid hormone controls a person’s metabolism and affects the way the body uses energy, consumes oxygen and regulates temperature.
Hypothyroidism occurs more often in women and people over the age of 60.
In the study, the team reviewed the results of 27 published articles including over 1.1 million older people.
They found those with hypothyroidism aged 60 years or older were 26% more likely to die from all causes than people 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 people with hypothyroidism who were 80 years old or older, the researchers found no increased risk of all-cause or heart disease mortality.
The team says these findings offer further evidence to help guide the management of hypothyroidism in older adults.
They imply that people 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 people diagnosed with hypothyroidism, given increased all-cause mortality.
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