October 1, 2025 - Appropriate studies performed to date have not demonstrated geriatric-specific problems that would limit the usefulness of levothyroxine in the elderly.

November 15, 2019 - Treating some elderly people with levothyroxine may put them at increased risk of death, new research from Israel reports. The results will be presented on Tuesday, March 20, at ENDO 2018, the 100th annual meeting of the Endocrine Society in Chicago, Ill.

May 1, 2024 - Levothyroxine works well to raise your thyroid hormone levels, but you may experience some · side effects while taking it. Most side effects are due to changes in thyroid hormone levels that happen when you first start taking this thyroid medication (or while changing doses).

Many older persons use the thyroid hormone levothyroxine which is often continued for life. Scientifically, there is much uncertainty whether simple continuation is the optimal approach. First, the physical need for levothyroxine can decrease with age thereby posing a higher risk of overtreatment and adverse effects.

February 11, 2025 - Levothyroxine, used to treat hypothyroidism, can cause some unwanted effects. Learn about the long-term side effects of levothyroxine.

Levothyroxine starts working straight away, but it may be several weeks before your symptoms start to improve. The most common side effects of levothyroxine are caused by taking a bigger dose than you need.

November 1, 2024 - As with other drugs, levothyroxine can cause side effects, such as hair loss and hyperthyroidism (high thyroid hormone levels). Levothyroxine is available as the brand-name drugs Levoxyl, Synthroid, and others.

November 25, 2024 - Jennifer Mammen, M.D., Ph.D., co-senior ... taking levothyroxine should discuss their treatment with their health care provider and regularly monitor their thyroid function tests. “A risk-benefit assessment should be conducted, weighing the strength of the indications for treatment against the potential adverse effects of levothyroxine ...

April 1, 2025 - The 2014 American Thyroid Association update3 recommends starting low and titrating slowly in elderly patients with hypothyroidism, and recommends raising the TSH target range to 4 to 6 mIU/L in persons 70 to 80 years old. It also cautions against iatrogenic thyrotoxicosis from overtreatment with levothyroxine, especially avoiding TSH levels lower than 0.1 mIU/L in older and postmenopausal women to avoid cardiac and bone deleterious effects.

October 22, 2020 - The authors assessed the patients for depression and for symptoms of excess thyroid hormone by two questionnaires; one validated for detecting geriatric depression in the Korean population and the other for hyperthyroid symptoms in Korean population. Then all the patients received an extra 12.5 mcg daily dose of levothyroxine for 3 months followed by their baseline levothyroxine dose for another 3 months.

Several studies referring to those over 65 years show that thyroid illness is very much a disease of the elderly and that it often goes undiagnosed. Although the incidence of thyroid problems increases with age, it is sometimes difficult to diagnose as symptoms are not always as widespread ...

Recent studies by Brito et al., show that use of Levothyroxine in nonpregnant adults with SCH (thyrotropin level elevated but ≤10 mIU/L and normal free thyroxine [FT4] levels), demonstrate no clinically relevant benefits of levothyroxine replacement for quality of life or thyroid-related symptoms [3]. It is known to have an increased risk of cancer in both males and females [4] but is still used for its beneficial effects to the patients of hypothyroidism.

Keep levothyroxine out of the reach of children. People who are elderly may be at greater risk of some side effects of levothyroxine.

May 2, 2021 - This retrospective case-control study analyzed 23 million patients from Taiwan’s claims data. Levothyroxine use was significantly associated with an increased risk of brain, skin, pancreatic, and fem...

March 11, 2024 - This includes prescription or nonprescription (over-the-counter [OTC]) medicines and herbal or vitamin supplements. Along with its needed effects, levothyroxine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.

February 3, 2021 - Many of the studies on the effect of a higher thyroid function than normal on the various organ risks, however, come from patients with endogenously elevated thyroid hormones and suppressed TSH, which can nevertheless be considered a surrogate for iatrogenic hyperthyroidism as described below. ... Table 5 Major risks from overtreatment with levothyroxine of elderly patients with overt or subclinical hypothyroidism.

Most studies did not find a significant effect of levothyroxine on older patients with SCH, such as bone density (11, 12), hypothyroidism symptoms and fatigue (13–15), depressive symptoms (16), cognitive function (17), cardiac function (18), ischemic heart disease (19), cardiovascular outcomes ...

March 31, 2023 - Because levothyroxine can cause side effects including anxiety, heat intolerance, and diarrhea—and in extreme cases, cardiovascular morbidity and death, especially in those over 80—this finding is alarming, says El-Khoury.

Our study results showed that levothyroxine use was significantly associated with an increased risk of cancer, particularly brain, skin, pancreatic, and female breast cancers. Levothyroxine remains a highly effective therapy for hypothyroidism; therefore, physicians should carefully consider levothyroxine therapy and monitor patients' condition to avoid negative outcomes.

Because of increased prevalence of cardiovascular disease among the elderly, initiate therapy at less than full replacement dose; atrial arrhythmias can occur in elderly patients; atrial fibrillation is the most common of arrhythmias observed ...