Upper limit of the normal range for thyrotropin-stimulating hormone is higher with increasing age

Abstract

Oscar MP JolobeManchester Medical Society, Manchester, United KingdomThe assertion that aging is associated with a decreasing concentration of thyrotropin-stimulating hormone (TSH) in healthy elderly humans1 appears to be at odds with the observation that "TSH distribution shifts towards higher concentrations with age."2 The latter conclusion was based on a study that analyzed the age-specific distribution of serum TSH in 14,376 disease-free subjects with negative thyroid antibody tests. In that study, the percentage of TSH measurements in the 2.5–4.5 mIU/L range progressively increased with age from approximately 6.5% in the 20–29-year age group to 23.9% in the 80 years and older age group. Likewise, the percentage of TSH measurements in the .4.5 mIU/L category progressively increased from 2.0% in the 20–29-year age group to 12% in the 80 years and older age group.View original paper by Bensenor and colleagues.Corrigendum for this letter has been published 

Keywords

• Upper;limit
• TSH
• increasing
• age