Thyroid disease
Find out how thyroid hormone affects your risk of osteoporosis and broken bones.
How does thyroid disease affect bone health?
Thyroid hormone helps control how fast your bones break down and are built up again.
Hyperthyroidism is a condition where your thyroid gland makes too much thyroid hormone. It is often called an overactive thyroid. People can also have high levels of thyroid hormone if they take too much thyroxine to treat an underactive thyroid.
A high level of thyroid hormone can increase the rate of bone loss. This increases your chance of osteoporosis and broken bones. Once it is diagnosed and treated, the rate of bone loss should return to normal and bone strength should improve. But some people will continue to lose bone. This is more likely in:
postmenopausal women
people who have had untreated hyperthyroidism for a long time
people with other risk factors for osteoporosis.
If you have had hyperthyroidism and are worried about osteoporosis, talk to your doctor about a fracture risk assessment.
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