Gender and Thyroid Disease

Pharmacotherapy for Endocrine and Musculoskeletal Disorders
Introduction
Thyroid disease is an endocrine disorder, the treatment of which can be impacted by the factor of gender, according to several studies (Klein & Danzi, 2016; Magri et al., 2016; Schwensen, Brandt, Hegedus & Brix, 2017).
The thyroid is responsible for producing thyroid hormone which plays a significant role in much of the processes of the body, from how your body burns calories to the rate of your heart beat. Thyroid disease tends to alter or disrupt the regulation of thyroid hormone production, which negatively impacts the rest of the body’s functions. Symptoms of this disease can include lethargy, restlessness, and weight loss or weight gain. Gender is commonly a factor in thyroid disease as women tend to be diagnosed with this disease more frequently than men, particularly after a pregnancy or following menopause, when their bodies are going through an adjustment process that will impact their hormone production levels.
Types of Drugs to Treat Thyroid Disease
Levothroid and Synthroid are two types of drugs that are commonly used to treat thyroid disease. They put hormone levels back at where they normally should be and help to eliminate the symptoms experienced by the patient after 1-2 weeks in most cases where they are used. These drugs are sa ynthetic thyroid hormone called levothyroxine.
Not everyone’s body absorbs levothyroxine in the same way, and iron content, calcium and other factors may play a part in how well the drug is effective as well as how much of the drug is prescribed.
How Gender Can Impact Pharmacotherapy for Thyroid Disease
Gender can be a factor in metabolism rates, which can alter the effectiveness of the pharmacotherapy approach to thyroid disease (Klein & Danzi, 2016). Metabolism could also impact the disease to cause problems with heart rate. Devdhar, Drooger, Pehlivanova, Singh and Jonklass (2014) have shown that gender is a factor that will determine dosage levels of levothyroxine, as women will tend to require different doses than men. However, what Devdhar et al. (2014) also noticed was that gender as a factor only became apparent in their research when they were also comparing weight as a factor. So gender and weight may be combined as equally important factors when considering the right dosage level of levothyroxine for patients. This combination is critical to understand according to Devdhar et al. (2014) because it highlights an important aspect of differentiating dosages.
Measures to Reduce Negative Impact
Measures to reduce a negative impact of receiving the wrong dosage of levothyroxine are to consider the factors that may alter the required dosage, and as the studies show, gender is a specific factor that will impact the dosage level at which levothyroxine becomes an effective drug to treat thyroid disease.
However, by considering gender combined with the weight factor, a better assessment of the patient can be obtained and the right dosage formulated in turn (Devdhar et al., 2014). Without the combination of these factors, the gender factor might not be evident immediately, and the idea that the same dosage for men and women will help the body to regulate the thyroid hormone production levels would be mistaken. Observing the gender factor will help the pharmacotherapy process to be more efficiently conducted.
References
Devdhar, M., Drooger, R., Pehlivanova, M., Singh, G., & Jonklaas, J. (2014).
Levothyroxine replacement doses are affected by gender and weight, but not age. Thyroid, 21(8), 821-827.
Klein, I., & Danzi, S. (2016). Thyroid disease and the heart. Current Problems in
Cardiology, 41(2), 65-92.
Magri, F., Zerbini, F., Gaiti, M., Capelli, V., Ragni, A., Rotondi, M., & Chiovato, L.
(2016). Gender influences the clinical presentation and long-term outcome of graves disease. Endocrine Practice, 22(11), 1336-1342.
Schwensen, C. F., Brandt, F., Hegedüs, L., & Brix, T. H. (2017). Mortality in Graves'
orbitopathy is increased and influenced by gender, age and pre-existing morbidity. A nationwide Danish register study. European Journal of Endocrinology, EJE-16.