Research
Hormonal
Levothyroxine therapy does not improve thyroid-related symptoms or quality of life in older adults (≥65 years) with subclinical hypothyroidism.
If you are over 65 and have subclinical hypothyroidism (high TSH but normal T4), taking levothyroxine is unlikely to make you feel less tired or improve your quality of life. While the medication will lower your TSH levels, it does not appear to provide clinical benefits for symptoms in this age group.
StrongRefutesVERY_HIGH confidence
We found no differences in the mean change at 1 year in the Hypothyroid Symptoms score... or the Tiredness score... Levothyroxine provided no apparent benefits in older persons with subclinical hypothyroidism.
Why this rating
Double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with 737 participants, high statistical power, and rigorous methodology.
Source
Thyroid Hormone Therapy for Older Adults with Subclinical Hypothyroidism
David J. Stott et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2017
DOI 10.1056/nejmoa1603825
rct · n=737Cited 479×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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