Anemia. The frequency of anemia, defined according to the World Health Organization, is higher than 10% in community-dwelling adults aged 65 years and older, and is frequently associated with other clinical conditions (Bensenor, 2012).
Depression. The diagnosis of hypothyroidism must be considered in every patient with depression. A small proportion of all patients with depression have primary hypothyroidism (Garber, 2012). Depressive symptoms, or depression, are common in elderly people, especially associated with other physical comorbidities (Bensenor, 2012). …show more content…
The most common form of thyroid failure has an autoimmune etiology. There is also an increased frequency of other autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes, pernicious anemia, primary adrenal failure (Addison’s disease), myasthenia gravis, celiac disease, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and rarely thyroid lymphoma. When adrenal insufficiency is present, the diagnosis of subclinical hypothyroidism should be deferred until after glucocorticoid therapy has been instituted because TSH levels may be elevated in the presence of untreated adrenal insufficiency and may normalize with glucocorticoid therapy (Garber,