Taking selenium supplements daily for a year does not lower the amount of levothyroxine that adults with autoimmune hypothyroidism need to take to manage their thyroid hormone levels.

79

Pro

0

Against

Evidence from Studies

Supporting (1)

79

Community contributions welcome

79

Selenium supplementation and placebo are equally effective in improving quality of life in patients with hypothyroidism

Randomized Controlled Trial

Human

2024 Jan 1

This study gave people with an underactive thyroid selenium pills or dummy pills for a year and found that both groups needed the same amount of thyroid medicine at the end — so selenium didn’t help reduce their pill dose.

Contradicting (0)

0

Community contributions welcome

No contradicting evidence found

Gold Standard Evidence Needed

According to GRADE and EBM methodology, here is what ideal scientific evidence would look like to definitively prove or disprove this specific claim, ordered from strongest to weakest evidence.

Source Study

Selenium supplementation and placebo are equally effective in improving quality of life in patients with hypothyroidism

Score: 79

DOI: 10.1530/ETJ-23-0175

Similar Assertions

In people with autoimmune hypothyroidism taking levothyroxine, taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily for a year may lower levels of thyroid peroxidase antibodies by about 19% compared to a placebo, but it does not change the required dose of thyroid hormone or the balance between free triiodothyronine and free thyroxine.

79

0

94%

Taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily for a year raises selenium levels in the blood of adults with autoimmune hypothyroidism who are on levothyroxine, but it does not change how efficiently the body converts thyroxine into triiodothyronine.

79

0

94%

Taking 200 micrograms of selenium daily for a year does not improve how people with autoimmune hypothyroidism feel on a standardized quality-of-life survey, even though their thyroid antibody levels decrease.

79

0

92%

Taking selenium supplements may lower levels of thyroid peroxidase antibodies in adults with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis who are already taking levothyroxine, with the greatest reduction seen at six months. However, it does not change thyroid-stimulating hormone levels or improve symptoms related to the condition.

39

0

87%

Taking selenium supplements does not change the levels of thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in adults with chronic autoimmune thyroiditis, whether or not they are taking levothyroxine.

39

0

86%