[Post-therapeutic changes in body composition of patients with Graves' disease]

Changes in patients' body composition following therapy for Graves' disease were assessed by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The subjects were 21 patients (6 males, 15 females) who were treated with 131I. Their ages ranged from 24 to 75 years (median 51.2 years). Changes in body composition were analyzed by evaluating the fat mass (FM) and lean mass (LM). Both FM and LM were significantly increased after therapy. The increase in LM was greater in the males, whereas in females, no significant difference was noted between the changes in FM and LM. The distributions of FM and LM were examined in the arms, legs and trunk after therapy, and FM was significantly increased in the trunk, while LM was increased in the legs. DXA is useful for the assessment of body composition as well as bone mineral content in follow-up study of Graves' disease.