(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Even so-called normal levels of the thyroid hormone
known as thyrotropin may be putting women at risk for heart disease.
New research out of Norway suggests women with increasing levels of the hormone,
even when those levels fall within the normal range, may be more likely to
experience an adverse cardiac event like a heart attack.
Investigators followed about 17,000 women and 8,000 men. During the study, 228
women and 183 men died of coronary heart disease. The vast majority of both
groups -- 192 women and 182 men -- had thyrotropin levels within the clinical
reference range and these levels were linked to coronary heart disease
mortality. However, the finding was strong enough to be statistically
significant only in the women.
“This study shows that coronary heart disease mortality increases in women with
increasing levels of thyrotropin within the reference range,” the authors were
quoted as saying. “These results indicate that relatively low but clinically
normal thyroid function may increase the risk of fatal coronary heart disease.”
The investigators note other studies have associated thyrotropin levels with
blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels -- all factors that can
lead to heart disease when they are elevated.
SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, 2008;168:855-860
