United Kingdom Trial of Radioiodine Intervention for Subclinical Hyperthyroidism

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Subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH) is a state of mild thyroid gland overactivity, defined by measurement of thyroid hormones in the blood. It is quite common, affecting about 2% of elderly people. Rather like high blood cholesterol levels, most people have no symptoms of SH, but it is associated with an increased risk of vascular disease. The problem is that we don`t know whether treating SH is worthwhile, in terms of benefit to vascular disease rates and other problems.We will carry out a trial comparing radioiodine treatment of the thyroid gland overactivity to standard therapy for cardiac risk factors in patients with SH. We will follow people with SH for 5 years after the treatment to find out whether this improves the rate of vascular diseases and other problems. This trial will form the first randomised study of treatment for this condition and will inform healthcare decision making for about 200,000 elderly people each year in the UK.