NYIT College of Osteopathic Medicine Professor A. Martin Gerdes says a series of animal studies have shown that heart health can improve with low doses of thyroid hormones.
Gerdes, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences,is leading efforts to research the connection between cardiac health and thyroid hormones. In the fourth and most recent published study on the subject (Journal of Cardiac Failure), NYIT scientists found that rats that received thyroid hormones had a reduced risk for dangerous heart arrhythmias following a heart attack.
“Importantly, these new animal studies are finally providing a protocol for a treatment and monitoring program to use in human clinical trials,” says Gerdes. “Studies can be done safely to develop treatments that can help improve cardiac health of millions of people who suffer from heart failure. Since thyroid hormones are inexpensive, significant health care savings could also result.”
Up to half of humans with heart failure also suffer from a specific arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat) called atrial fibrillation.
Earlier this year, Gerdes found that administering low doses of a thyroid hormone to rats with diabetes helped restore hormone levels in their hearts and prevented deterioration of heart function and pathology.
“There clearly needs to be more awareness with regard to research examining the impact of low thyroid hormone levels in the heart and the role this condition plays in the acceleration of heart failure,” says Gerdes.
Both studies were funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Gerdes is available for interviews to discuss his research findings.
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