Sex Hormones in Blood Help Predict Risk of Cardiac Arrest: Study

By Staff Reporter - 04 Sep '14 07:27AM

The level of sex hormones in your blood helps predict the likelihood of cardiac arrests, according to a study.

It is known blood pressure and cholesterol content are accurate indicators of heart health and for the possibility of developing heart diseases. Experts at the Heart Rhythm Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute discovered that the level of sex hormones in the blood can serve as a bio-marker for heart attacks. They examined blood hormone levels in 149 subjects who endured the deadly condition and compared it with 149 patients with coronary heart diseases. They found men with low testosterone and women with high estradiol in blood had higher risk of succumbing to sudden heart attacks.

Men who experienced heart attacks reportedly had 4.4 nanograms of testosterone for every milliliter of blood compared to 5.4 nanograms of testosterone per milliliter in those without heart ailments. The estradiol level in sufferers of heart attacks was 68 picograms per milliliter.

Women who had cardiac arrests had 54 picograms per milliliter while healthy female participants had about 36 picograms per milliliter.

Myocardial infractions occur due to severe clogging in heart arteries that restrict blood flow to heart muscles causing defective electrical signals resulting in unexpected cardiac arrests. This condition happens discreetly and a majority of patients are unaware of the danger they are exposed to. Every year, deaths from cardiac arrests account for almost five million cases around the world.

"This is the first time it has been reported that there is an association between sex hormone levels and sudden cardiac arrest," said Sumeet Chugh, director of the Heart Rhythm Center in the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute, reports the Free Press Journal.

"While these findings need to be confirmed by other studies, they suggest that higher testosterone levels in men may offer protection from sudden cardiac arrest and lower levels of estrogen may protect both men and women," he adds.

More information is available online in the journal Heart Rhythm.