In a nutshell, thyroid disorders are more common in the elderly and often remain undiagnosed. But not taking the thyroid hormone for a longer period, knowingly or unknowingly may predispose the senior citizens to face serious consequences,” said Dr Kagne. “Missing the dose may not result in bodily symptoms on short term basis. Missing the thyroid hormone will impact the blood test results and makes it difficult to adjust the dose, stressed Dr Sonali Kagne, deputy consultant, Department of Endocrinology, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, Mumbai.
Undiagnosed and untreated hyperthyroidism or thyrotoxicosis can significantly increase the risk of cardiovascular events (irregular heartbeats, angina, heart failure etc), hence timely diagnosis and intervention is very important in thyrotoxicosis,” he said. “But irrespective of the cause, all these disorders are completely manageable with proper doses of medications. Once the treatment is started, the patients are asked to be followed up once every three months,” Dr Hegde said.Īlso Read | Consume these five superfoods for thyroid healthĭiagnosis and management of thyrotoxicosis is a little more complex than hypothyroidism as sometimes patients need to undergo tests like thyroid scans or blood tests for antibodies against thyroid, mentioned Dr Ekatpure. However, emphasising that treating doctors “shouldn’t be overzealous in treating the patients”, Dr Hegde said that they can become more prone to other complications, especially those with “underlying heart conditions like CAD (Coronary Artery Disease), and sub-clinical heart failure”. Usually, the dosage is weight-based and is mostly around 1.6 micrograms per kg,” said Dr Hegde. The treatment doesn’t need to be started on a very emergent basis except in cases of profound hypothyroidism or emergency surgeries. “If they are found deficient, they must take levothyroxine on an empty stomach. He added that females have a higher preponderance of thyroid disorders as compared to males. Dr Ekatpure said, “It can present with a variety of isolated symptoms in the elderly, namely progressive and unexplained weight loss, shakiness of hands, elevated heartbeats and palpitations, excessive sweating, anxiety, one can feel jittery often, and insomnia.”ĭr Aditya G Hegde, consultant – diabetes and endocrinology, Manipal Hospital, Old Airport Road, Bangalore said that the treating doctor should be sure that the patient has primary or secondary hypothyroidism as “subclinical hypothyroidism management in the elderly is a grey area”. Hyperfunctioning thyroid gland or elevated levels of thyroid hormones in the blood (T3 and T4) is known as thyrotoxicosis. What’s the connection between the elderly and thyroid? (representative) (Source: Getty Images/Thinkstock) If it remains undiagnosed and untreated, it is associated with significant deterioration in the quality of life and increased risk for cardiovascular events,” Dr Ekatpure noted. “If properly diagnosed and treated, these symptoms are completely reversible and improve the quality of life significantly in elderly patients. Hence, according to Dr Ekatpure, it is essential to rule out hypothyroidism in the elderly who are exhibiting the above symptoms by doing a simple blood test of T4 and TSH levels. In the elderly, it can present with atypical symptoms or a single symptom, namely sluggishness of movement, excessive sleepiness, facial puffiness, depressive mood, loss of energy and appetite, loss of libido, or sexual dysfunction,” Dr Ekatpure said, adding that these symptoms are “commonly attributed to old age, vitamin deficiencies, and some other neurological disorders”. “Under-functioning of the thyroid gland is commonly known as primary hypothyroidism.
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