The Los Angeles Times (4/29, Cevallos) “Booster Shots” blog reported that elderly patients with hypothyroidism who take high doses of levothyroxine to treat the problem may be at increased risk for fractures, according to a study published Thursday in the British Medical Journal. For the study, researchers “analyzed data on more than 200,000 users of levothyroxine age 70 and older.” They looked for “fractures in the wrist, forearm, shoulder, upper arm, thoracic spine, lumbar spine, pelvis, hip or femur – common sites for fractures linked to bone-thinning.”

MedPage Today (4/29, Walsh) reported that the researchers found “current use of levothyroxine by people older than 70 was associated with an adjusted odds ratio of fracture of 1.88 (95% CI 1.71 to 2.05).” They noted that the risk “remained elevated even for those who discontinued the drug up to six months earlier (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.19 to 1.48).”