Thyroid News

CHICAGO — In older adults with subclinical hypothyroidism, levothyroxine therapy increases the risk for death from any cause, according to study data presented here.

CHICAGO — Adults with hypothyroidism prescribed levothyroxine were more likely to experience lower health-related quality of life and increased comorbidities when compared with similar adults not prescribed thyroid hormone therapy, according to study data presented here.

Susan J. Mandel, MD, MPH, associate chief of the division of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism and co-director and creator of the Thyroid Nodule Clinic at the University of Pennsylvania, is the Endocrine Society’s 2018 president.

Quality of life, mood and cognition were unaffected by adjusting levothyroxine dose to achieve thyroid-stimulating hormone levels near the reference range in adults with hypothyroidism, study data show.

Pregnant women positive for anti-thyroperoxidase autoantibody and anti-thyroglobulin autoantibody during their first trimester are at increased risks for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, according to findings published in Clinical Endocrinology.

Children born to mothers with congenital hypothyroidism were four times more likely to have low motor coordination at age 1 year vs. children of the same age in a control population, according to findings from an observational study conducted in France.

Most thyroid nodules are benign, and cytologic specimens collected through fine-needle aspiration can usually be diagnosed as malignant or benign based on their appearance under a microscope. In cases where the status of a thyroid cytology sample is not clear, further testing using molecular markers may be important for ruling out thyroid cancer and preventing unnecessary surgery in these patients. The high negative predictive value of the currently available molecular thyroid tests is extremely valuable, according to Mark A. Lupo, MD, founder and medical director of the Thyroid & Endocrine Center of Florida.

Eyal Robenshtok

In February, talk show host Wendy Williams announced she would take a 3-week break from her popular daytime TV show to rest and focus on managing her recently diagnosed Graves’ disease. Williams, who had fainted on the air in late October, was instructed by her physician to take the hiatus.

Women with differentiated thyroid cancer treated with radioactive iodine ablation experienced decreased anti-Müllerian hormone levels 3 months after treatment with only partial recovery at 1 year after treatment, which may suggest an adverse effect of radioactive iodine in women of reproductive age, according to study findings.