Do you really need to take thyroid hormone at all? Elizabeth Tracey reports

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Many many people take thyroid hormone, and a large number of them are taking too much, putting them at risk to develop dementia, a Johns Hopkins study shows. Jennifer Mammen, an endocrinologist and one of the study’s authors, says it may be that you don’t need to take the hormone at all.

Mammen: It turns out that many people actually are on thyroid hormone and don't really need it or don't need as high a dose. Sometimes people get put on it for a transient thyroiditis that actually resolves over time. There have been some studies that show that about a third of people who think that they need thyroid hormone when they come off of it continue to have relatively normal thyroid hormone levels. It's also possible if you're one of those people who find that you're over treated maybe you actually don't need as high a dose or you don't need to be on it at all and it's worth exploring with your doctors.   :34  

Mammen says it’s always good not to need a medicine. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.