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Thyroid disease in specific population groups
Thyroid disease in specific population groups
Women and men; children and adults of any age, generally experience the same signs and symptoms of thyroid disease. Also, thyroid disease in these groups is usually treated in the same way. However, there may be some differences, too. On this page, you can find links to information that is specific to certain groups in the population.
For example, due to thyroid disease, both women and men may experience sexual dysfunction or problems with fertility, but - not surprisingly - these problems manifest themselves differently in both sexes. Infants and children may experience some symptoms of thyroid disease differently from adults, while elderly persons with thyroid disease sometimes don't experience symptoms at all.
Women who are trying to become pregnant, are pregnant, or have recently given birth face significant hormonal changes that not only affect the woman's own thyroid function, but also the thyroid hormone levels in her unborn child or infant. These hormonal changes also complicate the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid disease in these women. As optimal thyroid hormone levels are essential for the normal development of a baby’s brain and nervous system, it's important to follow a healthy, varied diet containing the nutrients essential for good thyroid function, particularly iodine; to have regular blood tests to check thyroid hormone levels and (where applicable) take the thyroid drugs prescribed by a doctor.
Men
Men
Thyroid Symptoms in Males (Verywellhealth)
Infertility and Thyroid Disease (Verywellhealth)
Hyperthyroidism in Men: What You Need to Know (Healthline)
How do thyroid hormones impact your erectile dysfunction? (Healthy male - Andrology Australia)
Gabrielson, A. T., Sartor, R. A., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2018). The impact of thyroid disease on sexual dysfunction in men and women. Sexual medicine reviews.
Women
Women
How Thyroid Function Affects Menstruation (Verywellhealth)
Infertility and Thyroid Disease (Verywellhealth)
Thyroid Disorders in Women (John Hopkins Medicine)
Gabrielson, A. T., Sartor, R. A., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2018). The impact of thyroid disease on sexual dysfunction in men and women. Sexual medicine reviews.
Hypothyroidism & Menopause – What's the Link & How to Tell the Difference (imaware)
Thyroid and pregnancy
Thyroid and pregnancy
Thyroid Disease and Pregnancy (American Thyroid Association)
Thyroid Disease & Pregnancy (National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases)
Postpartum Thyroiditis (American Thyroid Association; printable brochure)
Postpartum Thyroiditis (John Hopkins Medicine)
Hypothyroidism and Pregnancy (John Hopkins Medicine)
Hyperthyroidism and Pregnancy (American Thyroid Association)
Thyroid Cancer and Pregnancy (Health Choices First)(video)
See also: Folic Acid and Spina Bifida/Iodine and Iodine Deficiency HealthEd, Ministry of Health/Health Promotion Agency; printable pdf)
Blood test reference ranges for pregnant women
Blood test reference ranges for pregnant women
Multiple physiological and hormonal changes take place during pregnancy. For example, the kidneys excrete more iodine, the number of thyroxine binding proteins increases and the thyroid hormone production goes up. The thyroid adjusts to these changes. As a result, thyroid hormone levels in pregnant women are different from those in non-pregnant women and the reference intervals for the most frequently used thyroid function tests - TSH, Free T4 and Free T3 - may vary considerably, although that depends on testing method, geographical area and ethnic group. The differences are greater in twin pregnancies than in singleton pregnancies.
As noted on our page about the diagnosis and monitoring of treatment of thyroid disease by means of blood tests, the reference ranges for thyroid function tests in New Zealand differ from one laboratory to the other, mainly due to differences in testing equipment. Only the reference ranges supplied by the laboratory that performed the tests should be used for the interpretation of test results. Of the test guides from New Zealand laboratories that we have consulted for our website, only LabPlus and Waikato DHB Laboratory have published separate reference ranges specifically for pregnant women.
Information for parents of children with thyroid conditions
Information for parents of children with thyroid conditions
Newborn Metabolic Screening Programme (National Screening Unit, Ministry of Health, NZ)
Congenital hypothyroidism and your baby (VScreening Unit, Ministry of Health, NZ; pdf)
Congenital Hypothyroidism (Department of Health, Honolulu, Hawai’i, USA)
Congenital Hypothyroidism (Nemours Foundation)
Neonatal Graves Disease (Hyperthyroidism) (Children’s National)
Hypothyroidism (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Hypothyroidism in Children and Adolescents American Thyroid Association; printable pdf)
Hyperthyroidism (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Hyperthyroidism in Children and Teens (Endocrineweb)
Thyroglossal Duct Cyst (Boston Children’s Hospital)
Thyroglossal Duct Cyst in Children (Stanford Children's Health)
Thyroid Nodules (Boston Children's Hospital)
Thyroid Cancer in Children (Boston Children's Hospital)
Information for children with thyroid conditions
Information for children with thyroid conditions
What is the thyroid? – KidsHealth (Nemours Foundation)
Teenagers and young people (British Thyroid Foundation)
Elderly
Elderly
Older patients and thyroid disease (American Thyroid Association, printable pdf)
Aging & Health A to Z: Thyroid Problems (HealthinAging.org)
Ethnic groups in New Zealand
Ethnic groups in New Zealand
Very little information is available about thyroid conditions in the different ethnic groups in New Zealand. Old data from the 2006/07 New Zealand Health Survey (Ministry of Health) seem to suggest that there are few differences in prevalence of thyroid conditions (as a whole category) among the ethnic groups included in the survey (Māori, Pacific, Asian and New Zealand European/Other). Only the proportion of adult (> 15 years) Pacific Islanders with a thyroid condition is lower than that of the general population.
More recent research from 2014 shows that Pacific women (> 45 years) have the highest rates of thyroid cancer in New Zealand, although there are likely to be significant differences between the respective Pacific groups. This particular study doesn't distinguish between Pacific groups, but other research has shown high thyroid cancer rates in, for example, Fiji, while thyroid cancer is uncommon in Samoa. The authors of the study consider it possible that thyroid cancer is more frequent in Pacific people born in the Islands than in Pacific people born in New Zealand. A possible reason for this could be the high consumption of iodine-rich seafood among children and young people living in the Pacific Islands, but more research is needed to investigate that.
Meredith, I., Sarfati, D., Atkinson, J., & Blakely, T. (2014). Thyroid cancer in Pacific women in New Zealand. The New Zealand Medical Journal (Online), 127 (1395)
full text article
summary in Medical Press
A 2020 study shows that the rate of Thyroid Eye Disease (TED) in Māori is twice that of other New Zealand populations. However, smoking – a known risk factor for TED – is also twice as high in Māori. The researchers conclude that the increased rate of TED in Māori is due to their smoking status and that this is an important factor for the management of TED in this group.
Angelo, L., Niederer, R., & Hart, R. (2020). Thyroid eye disease in New Zealand: interaction between ethnicity and smoking status. The New Zealand Medical Journal, 133 (1526), 12-17. (pdf)
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