Who is affected by hypothyroidism

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Who is affected by hypothyroidism

Hypothyroidism is the most common type of thyroid problem. The incidence tends to increase with age, with women older than 60 at highest risk. Hypothyroidism tends to run in families.

• Hypothyroidism occurs in 4 to 5 out of 100 people in the United States.¹
• Hypothyroidism is more common in older people than in younger and more common in women than in men.
• In iodine-deficient areas of the world, 10 to 20 times more people have hypothyroidism than in the United States.²
• Mild (subclinical) hypothyroidism affects up to 20 out of 100 of women older than 60.³
• About 2 out of 100 of pregnant women in the United States develop hypothyroidism.⁴
• 1 out of every 4,000 infants born worldwide has hypothyroidism. Girls are twice as likely to have hypothyroidism as boys.⁵

References

Citations

1. Ladenson PW (2005). Thyroid. In DC Dale, DD Federman, eds., ACP Medicine, section 3, chap. 1. New York: WebMD.

2. Dillmann WH (2004). Hypothyroidism section of The thyroid. In L Goldman, D Ausiello, eds., Cecil Textbook of Medicine, 22nd ed., vol. 2, pp. 1402–1411. Philadelphia: Saunders.

3. Surks MI, et al. (2004). Subclinical thyroid disease: Scientific review and guidelines for diagnosis and management. JAMA, 291(2): 228–238.

4. Larsen PR, Davies TF (2003). Hypothyroidism and thyroiditis. In PR Larsen, ed., Williams Textbook of Endocrinology, 10th ed., pp. 423–455. Philadelphia: Saunders.

5. LaFranchi S (2004). Hypothyroidism section of Disorders of the thyroid gland. In RE Behrman et al., eds., Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 17th ed., pp. 1872–1979. Philadelphia: Saunders.

Credits

Last updated:	September 05, 2006
Author:	Sabra L. Katz-Wise
Reviewed By:	Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Hanan Bassyouni, MD - Endocrinology and Metabolism
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman