04 Sep High Estrogen, Low Testosterone Linked To Sudden Cardiac Arrest

Posted at 11:43h in Author Interviews, Gender Differences, Heart Disease by

Sumeet S. Chugh MD Pauline and Harold Price Endowed Professor Associate Director, the Heart Institute Section Chief, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CAMedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sumeet S. Chugh MD
Pauline and Harold Price Endowed Professor
Associate Director, the Heart Institute
Section Chief, Clinical Cardiac Electrophysiology
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA

Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Chugh: Our study, conducted in the community, showed that there are unique alterations in sex hormone levels identified among patients who have sudden cardiac arrest. Male victims have lower testosterone and both males and females have higher estrogren levels.


Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Chugh: As you know there are multiple studies that link hormonal imbalances to increased risk of cardiovascular conditions and mortality; and this is a subject that has been hotly debated as well. However, a link between sex hormones and sudden cardiac arrest had not been evaluated previously. There is one aspect of our findings that we were quite surprised by: higher levels of estrogen in men correlating with higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest. While this hormone is present in men, finding of high levels are quite unexpected. However, there are potential mechanisms that could explain the phenomenon and need to be investigated further.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Chugh: Sudden cardiac arrest remains a major health problem and 95% of patients who suffer this condition will die within 10 minutes. Especially since sudden cardiac arrest accounts for 1000 US lives lost on a daily basis, we have no choice but to discover novel methods of prediction and prevention. While further research is warranted, these findings indicate the sex hormone levels can potentially be used to predict sudden cardiac arrest in the future.

Citation:

Sex Hormone Levels in Patients with Sudden Cardiac Arrest
Kumar Narayanan, Rasmus Havmoeller, Kyndaron Reinier, Katherine Jerger, Carmen Teodorescu, Audrey Uy-Evanado, Jo Navarro, Adriana Huertas-Vazquez, Karen Gunson, Jonathan Jui, Sumeet S. Chugh.
Heart Rhythm, 2014; DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2014.08.031

Last Updated on September 4, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD

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