Hypothyroidism Statistics
Figuring out the statistics of Hypothyroidism is difficult for a number of reasons. The data is often taken on a specific form of Hypothyroidism, say Hashimoto's Syndrome, and then reported as a total number for all types. The other is that the data is obtained for small groups of people or in certain geographic regions. Focusing only on large general studies, the following generalities can be made.
- The prevalence of hypothyroidism has varied from 4.6% to 9.5% of the U.S. population. That would be between 14 and 30 million people as of July 2012. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and the Colorado Thyroid Disease Prevalence Study )
- 40% of the people already taking thyroid medication still have abnormal TSH readings. (Colorado Thyroid Disease Prevalence Study)
- Females are more likely to get Hyperthyroidism than males. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) and the Colorado Thyroid Disease Prevalence Study )
- The prevalence of hypothyroidism increases with age. From about 2% in the 12-19 year range to 15% in the above 65 year range. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III))
- 1 in every 4,000 babies born with congenital hypothyroidism in the US (American Medical Women’s Association)
- White and Hispanics are more likely to exhibit hypothyroidism than African-Americans. (National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III))