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THYROID FUNCTION AND CORONARY ATHEROSCLEROSIS
Author(s) -
Wren James C.
Publication year - 1968
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1968.tb01279.x
Subject(s) - medicine , thyroid function , thyroid , thyroid function tests , angina , coronary atherosclerosis , cholesterol , cardiology , thyroid disease , gastroenterology , coronary heart disease , endocrinology , surgery , myocardial infarction
A bstract For the purpose of determining the effect of thyroid function on the course of atherosclerosis (particularly coronary), 74 patients (32 males and 42 females, mean age 61.6 years) with the disease were treated in two groups—37 with desiccated thyroid plus B vitamins, and 37 with periodic intravenous injections of levo‐thyroxine in addition. The study lasted two years. Seventy patients reported subjective benefit, 2 were unchanged, and 2 died. Nineteen of 22 patients with angina noted alleviation of the pain. Electrocardiographic patterns improved in 22 of the 74 cases after one year. In 51 patients with hypercholesterolemia, the level of serum cholesterol was reduced by 17 per cent. For controls, 48 conventionally treated atherosclerotic patients were matched with 48 of the thyroid‐treated group; during the two‐year period, 12 of the conventionally treated group died, but only 2 of the thyroid‐treated group. No firm conclusions can be drawn from a study of this limited size, but the following tentative conclusions can be made: There is some failure of thyroid function with advancing age and in the presence of severe atherosclerosis, as supported by reports in the literature. The usual laboratory indicators of thyroid function may not accurately measure this change in thyroid function. Thyroid therapy deserves more extensive trial as a possible means of modifying the effects of the atherosclerotic process.