{"id":"tsh","name":"TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone)","shortName":"TSH","aliases":["TSH","Thyroid Stimulating Hormone","Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone","Thyrotropin","TSH, 3rd Generation","TSH, Ultrasensitive","TSH - Ultrasensitive","TSH, High Sensitivity","TSH, Sensitive","TSH, Sensitive, S","Sensitive TSH","TSH W/Reflex To FT4","TSH with Reflex to Free T4","Thyroid Stim Hormone","Thyrotropin (TSH)","hTSH","TSH 3rd Gen"],"abbreviations":["TSH","hTSH"],"loinc":[{"code":"3016-3","primary":true},{"code":"11580-8","primary":false},{"code":"11579-0","primary":false}],"specimen":"serum-or-plasma","units":[{"ucum":"m[IU]/L","display":"mIU/L"},{"ucum":"u[IU]/mL","display":"µIU/mL"}],"referenceRanges":[{"population":"11+","low":0.45,"high":4.5,"unit":"m[IU]/L","unitDisplay":"mIU/L","note":"The Labcorp interval for people over 10 years (Roche cobas immunoassay, printed as µIU/mL, which is numerically the same as mIU/L). Other sources differ a little: Mayo Clinic Laboratories prints 0.3 to 4.2 mIU/L and ARUP 0.27 to 4.20 mIU/L from age 20, the ATA (2014) and ETA (2013) guidelines quote 0.4 to 4.0, and MedlinePlus quotes 0.4 to 4.8. TSH drifts higher with age: in the US NHANES III survey of people without thyroid disease, the upper limit (97.5th percentile) was 3.56 mIU/L at ages 20 to 29 and 7.49 at 80 and over, so a slightly higher TSH is often within the usual range for an older adult. The interval is not meant for pregnancy, when trimester-specific ranges are used. Use the range printed on your own report.","sources":[{"title":"Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) (test 004259)","url":"https://www.labcorp.com/tests/004259/thyroid-stimulating-hormone-tsh","publisher":"Labcorp"},{"title":"Thyroid Function Cascade, Monitor (without Thyroid Peroxidase Antibody), Serum (test THCSM)","url":"https://www.testcatalog.org/show/THCSM","publisher":"Mayo Clinic Laboratories (Extended Catalog, testcatalog.org)"},{"title":"Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (test 0070145)","url":"https://ltd.aruplab.com/Tests/Pub/0070145","publisher":"ARUP Laboratories"},{"title":"TSH test (MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia)","url":"https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/003684.htm","publisher":"MedlinePlus, National Library of Medicine"},{"title":"Guidelines for the Treatment of Hypothyroidism: Prepared by the American Thyroid Association Task Force on Thyroid Hormone Replacement","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4267409/","publisher":"Thyroid","year":2014},{"title":"2013 ETA Guideline: Management of Subclinical Hypothyroidism","url":"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3923601/","publisher":"European Thyroid Journal (European Thyroid Association)","year":2013},{"title":"Age-specific distribution of serum thyrotropin and antithyroid antibodies in the US population: implications for the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17911171/","publisher":"Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism","year":2007}]}],"review":{"status":"ai-verified","label":"AI-verified against cited sources. Awaiting expert review","lastReviewed":"2026-10-03"},"summary":"A hormone from the pituitary gland that tells your thyroid how much hormone to make. It is the test most often ordered first to check your thyroid.","url":"https://bloodtesttracker.com/markers/tsh","notice":"Information, not medical advice. Ranges differ between labs, so the range on your own report is the one your result is judged against."}