Abstract
The serum TSH, T3, T4 and TBG values were measured in 313 elderly subjects with the age of 60 years or more who lived in the home for the healthy aged. The serum T3 and TBG values showed a negative correlation (p<0.01, both) with the age, but the serum TSH and T4 values did not. Consequently the normal renge was determined as, the mean±2SD of the TSH and T4 values of the total subjects, and those of the T3 and the TBG values of each decade (60, 70, 80 and 90). When compared with the reported data measured in the hospital samples, the present results (home samples) showed higher values in T3, T4 and TBG levels. According to the normal range determined, 69 (54%) of the 127 patients with non-thyroidal illness were noted to have low T3 value. In the 69 low T3 patients, normal serum T4 values were noted in 62 (low T3 group) and low T4 values in 7 patients (low T3 low T4 group). The underlying diseases were not different between the two groups but hemoglobin, total serum protein and total cholesterol values were lower and the mortality was higher in the low T3 low T4 group when compared with the low T3 group.
