Thyroid experts will present the latest information on cardiovascular and metabolic issues in patients with thyroid disorders, including those who have an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism) or an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), at a day-long scientific meeting on Friday, March 28, 2008 at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington, DC.

The scientific meeting, “Cardiovascular and Metabolic Issues in Patients with Thyroid Dysfunction: Implications for treating Hypo- or Hyperthyroidism,” is sponsored by the American Thyroid Association (ATA), the lead organization in promoting thyroid health and understanding thyroid biology.

Journalists are invited to attend a media roundtable discussion with thyroid experts from 12:15 – 1:00 p.m. on March 28 at London 1 Room at the Marriott Metro Center.

“We have designed this symposium to address the most common metabolic and cardiovascular issues arising in patients with mild to severe thyroid dysfunction, from both a pathophysiological, as well as a therapeutic perspective,” said Reed Larsen, MD, meeting program co-chair and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Clinical Director of the Thyroid Section at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Program topics include:

  * Lipid alterations in subclinical and overt hypothyroidism

  * Thyroid dysfunction and body weight changes

  * Subclinical hypothyroidism and clinical cardiovascular disease

  * Thyrotoxicosis and the skeleton: How bad for the bones?

  * Recent data with thyroid hormone analogues to treat cholesterol disorders, atherosclerosis, obesity and diabetes

  * Thyroid hormone and the treatment of congestive heart failure

“Both mild and overt derangements in thyroid gland function pose a set of issues related to the cardiovascular system,” said John Baxter, MD, meeting program co-chair and Senior Member of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, Texas. “This meeting is an excellent opportunity to understand the clinical picture when there are these variations in thyroid gland dysfunction and what to do about them, and also to provide a perspective of exciting possibilities of treatment modalities that may come in the future.”

March 27 Research Summit

The media is invited to attend the half-day Research Summit on Thyroid Hormones and Metabolic Control from 12:00 p.m.–5:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 27 at the Marriott Metro Center in Washington, DC. The summit, chaired by Antonio Bianco, MD, PhD, Chief of the Thyroid Section at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital where he is also a co-Chair of the Cardiovascular, Metabolism and Diabetes Research Center, will bring together scientists in the thyroid and metabolism community and NIDDK officials to provide information and updates on the current state-of-the-art research in thyroid hormones and metabolic control.

Source: American Thyroid Association