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...

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…