Thyroid function starting at age 50 tied to life expectancy

Thyroid function starting at age 50 tied to life expectancy
Last Updated: 2017-09-18
By Anne Harding

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Low-normal thyroid function is associated with longer life expectancy in middle-aged people, according to data from The Rotterdam Study.

"At age 50, people with low-normal thyroid function live up to 3.5 years longer than those with high-normal thyroid function. Also, people with low-normal thyroid function live a longer life without cardiovascular disease (CVD) than those with high-normal thyroid function," Dr. Arjola Bano of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, told Reuters Health by email.

The Rotterdam Study previously found that low-normal thyroid function was associated with an increased risk of diabetes or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, while high-normal thyroid function was linked to an increased risk of atrial fibrillation or dementia, Dr. Bano noted. "The challenge for future research will be to integrate the associated risk of relevant adverse outcomes, in order to eventually define the clinically relevant normal ranges of thyroid function," she said.

Read the article, here...

Abstract
JAMA Intern Med 2017.