Prevalence of Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis in Two Elderly Populations with Different Dietary Iodine Intake

The prevalence of subclinical and overt primary hypothyroidism in elderly female subjects is variable among different populations, ranging between 1 and 17.5% 1–2. The etiology of the hypothyroidism is most frequently due to autoimmune or Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Recently, Bastenie et al3 reported that serum anti-thyroglobulin (Ab-Tg) and anti-microsomal (Ab-M) antibodies are present in a large number of elderly women, reaching approximately 23 percent over age 60 years. A positive relationship between Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and iodine intake has been found by some authors 4–6 but not others7.