Common Thyroid Medicine Levothyroxine Linked to Bone Loss: What to Know About the Risks
The drug commonly prescribed for hypothyroidism treatment may have dangerous side effects for older adults.
Prescribed to treat hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer, around 7% of the U.S. population takes levothyroxine. The drug is a synthetic version of a hormone called thyroxine and, according to a recent report from the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), may be associated with bone loss in older adults. Scroll to read more about the side effects of levothyroxine.
Study finds bone density loss is associated with levothyroxine use
A study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) last weekend indicates a link between the drug levothyroxine and bone density loss.
Woman's World Answers
Levothyroxine, often sold under the brand name Synthroid, is prescribed to patients whose thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough thyroid hormone. This condition is also known as hypothyroidism.
The study’s results are concerning because levothyroxine is the second most commonly prescribed medication among older adults in the U.S., and bone density becomes increasingly important with age.
“Data indicates that a significant proportion of thyroid hormone prescriptions may be given to older adults without hypothyroidism,” said Elena Ghotbi, M.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland and the study’s lead author.
Dr. Ghotbi speculates that of the nearly 23 million Americans who take levothyroxine daily, in some cases it can become unclear whether a patient still needs or is continuing to benefit from the drug.
About the levothyroxine study
The Baltimore-based study is a collaboration between Johns Hopkins and the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA).
According to study co-author Eleanor Simonsick, Ph.D., epidemiologist and BLSA co-director, this research is the longest-running study on aging conducted by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Aging.
The study group included 81 participants (32 men, 49 women) with a normally functioning thyroid taking levothyroxine and 364 participants who did not take levothyroxine (148 men, 216 women). The median age of all participants was 73.
As a longitudinal study, the participants were followed for a median of 6.3 years.
The results indicated that the use of levothyroxine was linked to increased loss of total body bone mass and bone density.
What is levothyroxine?
Levothyroxine is a medication prescribed to patients with hypothyroidism. The drug, also sold as Synthroid, works by replacing the missing thyroid hormone (thyroxine) in the body to help regulate internal processes such as metabolism and heart rate.
Levothyroxine sodium is a man-made hormone that works in the same way as thyroxine and is the active ingredient in Synthroid.
Common side effects of the medication include hair loss, rashes and problems with the heart.
What to do if you’ve been prescribed levothyroxine for hypothyroidism?
A condition that becomes more common with age, hypothyroidism occurs when the thyroid gland does not produce enough of the thyroid hormone thyroxine.
Hypothyroidism disrupts important processes like metabolism and heart rate and can cause weight gain, fatigue, hair loss and eventually lead to serious health complications.
Thyroid issues are more prevalent in patients over 60 years of age. Up to 1 in 4 patients in nursing homes may have undiagnosed hypothyroidism.
The process of prescribing levothyroxine to treat hypothyroidism requires regular blood tests until the correct dose of the medication is reached to treat your symptoms with minimal side effects.
In addition to blood tests, consult with your doctor about increasing the frequency of bone density scans to keep a close eye on how levothyroxine may be affecting your bone density.
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