Do Patients Gain Weight After Thyroidectomy for Thyroid Cancer?
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Patients who undergo thyroidectomy often complain of weight gain, which they frequently attribute to inadequate thyroid hormone replacement. To assess the weight changes associated with thyroid hormone replacement or suppressive therapy after thyroidectomy, we measured the weights of patients before and after thyroidectomy and compared them to the weights of euthyroid patients with thyroid nodules who were being followed for many years. METHODS: The weights and heights of 67 women and 35 men who underwent total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer were recorded before and for a mean of 8.3 years after thyroidectomy. All patients received either suppressive or replacement doses of levothyroxine. As a comparison group, 70 women and 22 men with goiter or thyroid nodules and were euthyroid had serial measurements of height and weight. They were followed for a mean of 7.6 years. The body mass index (BMI) and age-adjusted BMI percentiles were calculated. The weight, BMI, and BMI percentile changes were compared both unadjusted and adjusted for age, gender, thyrotropin (TSH) level, and duration between measurements. RESULTS: At baseline, patients with thyroid nodules were older (mean 50.4 years) than those with thyroid cancer (mean 45.8 years). There were no significant differences in baseline weight, BMI, or BMI percentile. The baseline TSH levels were lower for patients with thyroid cancer (mean 0.8 mIU/L) than for those with nodules (mean 1.8 mIU/L) (p=0.002). There were no significant differences between the changes in weight, BMI, or BMI percentile from the start to the completion of the study whether unadjusted or after adjustment for age, gender, TSH, and duration of follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the perception of many patients that their thyroidectomy and thyroid hormone replacement or suppressive therapy is responsible for their subsequent weight gain, there were no significant differences in weight gain over time in comparison to a control group of euthyroid patients with thyroid nodules or goiter.
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None of the studies examining body weight and composition in LT4-treated subjects have shown significant differences in these parameters compared to control subjects or when LT4 doses were altered to lower TSH within the reference range.
“None have shown significant differences in these parameters compared to control subjects (47,48) or when LT4 doses were altered to lower TSH within the reference range (14,41).”
From Effects of levothyroxine replacement or suppressive therapy on energy expenditure and body composition (2016) · cites this paper as [48]
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- Authors
- Weinreb, J. T., Yang, Y., & Braunstein, G. D.
- Affiliations
- Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (US)
- Venue
- Thyroid
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2011-12
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 12
- Pages
- 1339-1342
- ISSN
- 1050-7256 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-9077
- OpenAlex
- W2131146742
- Cited by
- 40
- References
- 14
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 2 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2 · 2012: 4
- FWCI
- 2.62
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Thyroid (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
- Keywords
- thyroidectomy, thyroid cancer, weight gain, thyroid hormone replacement, levothyroxine, suppressive therapy, body mass index, thyroid-stimulating hormone, thyroid nodules, goiter, long-term follow-up
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Female, Goiter, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Risk Factors, Antithyroid Agents, Thyroid Neoplasms, Thyroidectomy, Time Factors, Los Angeles, Weight Gain, Body Mass Index, Chi-Square Distribution, Linear Models, Thyroid Nodule, Treatment Outcome, Risk Assessment, Hormone Replacement Therapy
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