Study Links Bone Loss in Older Adults to Commonly Prescribed Medications
Approximately 23 million Americans are prescribed levothyroxine for hypothyroidism every day.
A recent study has linked levothyroxine, a commonly prescribed drug in the United States for older adults, to bone loss, as reported by officials on Monday.
According to a press release by the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), approximately 23 million Americans, representing about 7% of the population, take this medication daily. These findings will be presented at the society’s annual meeting in December.
Based on the Johns Hopkins study, regular use of levothyroxine over a period of more than six years was associated with a higher rate of bone loss and decreased bone density, even among individuals with normal thyroid function.
The researchers analyzed data from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging, which included individuals aged 65 and older who had undergone at least two thyroid function tests, as mentioned in the press release.
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The study group consisted of 81 euthyroid levothyroxine users and 364 non-users, with a median age of 73. Other factors such as age, gender, height, weight, race, additional medications, and alcohol use and smoking history were considered in the research, comparing levothyroxine users with non-users.
These individuals had a median thyroid-stimulating hormone level of 2.35 during their initial examination, according to the authors.
Results showed that “levothyroxine use was linked to more significant total body bone mass and bone density loss—even in participants with normal TSH levels—over a median follow-up of 6.3 years,” the authors stated. “This correlation persisted even after adjusting for baseline TSH and other risk factors.”
“Our findings suggest that despite adherence to current guidelines, the use of levothyroxine is associated with increased bone loss among older adults,” said Shadpour Demehri, M.D., co-author of the study and radiology professor at Johns Hopkins, as per the release.
Elena Ghotbi, lead author from Johns Hopkins, remarked that their data also indicates that “a considerable portion of thyroid hormone prescriptions may be given to older adults without hypothyroidism, raising concerns about potential excess thyroid hormone levels even when treatment aims to achieve reference range goals.”
The Epoch Times reached out to AbbVie, the brand’s manufacturer, for comment on Tuesday.
The company cautioned that “over- or under-dosing” of the medication could have negative effects on various aspects including growth and development, heart function, bone health, reproductive function, mental health, digestion, and blood sugar and cholesterol metabolism in both adult and pediatric patients.
