Cooper was not involved with the new study.
Without enough thyroid hormones in your blood, many body functions slow down, Cooper said.
The pituitary gland in the brain producesthyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Catherine McQueen / Getty Images
If thyroid hormone levels are too high, the pituitary makes little to no TSH.
Your provider can do a blood test to indirectly check your thyroid hormone levels by measuring your TSH levels.
If your TSH levels are high, you might need to take supplemental thyroid hormone.
If your TSH is low, you might have too much thyroid hormone.
These blood tests can also help your provider tell if your thyroid medication needs to be adjusted or stopped.
During the study, some of the patients taking supplemental thyroid hormone medication had low TSH levels.
The study had limitationsfor example, the population was mostly White and female.
Who Is At Risk?
If you take thyroid medication, talk to your provider at least once a year about your dose.
You should have your TSH levels checked to see if your dose needs to be adjusted.
2022;99(7):e679-e687.
American Thyroid Association.TSH reference ranges should be used to safely guide thyroid hormone treatment in hypothyroid patients.
Papaleontiou M, Brito JP.Disentangling the association between excess thyroid hormone and cognition in older adults.JAMA Intern Med.
Published online October 23, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.5618/
