_ A. a
Tested ter r Men

 

By JOHN TROAN,

Scrigps-Howerd Newspapers.

“WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 —]

‘& hormone “obtained from
horses apparently can prolong
the lives of men stricken. with
: heart’attacks. -
‘A University of Southern
California physician says men
‘treated «with this hormone
“are tending to survive about
two ‘to three times as long” as
other male heart victims.
Although it is a female sex
hormone, derived from. preg-
nant mares, the medicine is
given in ‘such small doses it
doesn’t produce any feriniz-
ing effects among the patients,
Dr. Jessie Marmorstoi. said.:
Geod Effects Outweighed.

Female sex hormones. have
been used in the past to treat
men ‘who had heart attacks.
But generally they: had to be
given in such large doses that
their good .was outweighed by
undesirable side effects.

Dr. Marmorston, presented
her findings to’ a meeting. of
the American, .Federation” of
Clinical Resarch.in-.Carmel,
Calif., and. elaborated’ on them
in a telephone’ interview. --
said the-hormone
“named Premarin,
has proved to be the only drug
other» than blood-thinning
Jants—capable of cut.

 

 

 

  

ting the d
with heart attacks.

Twe other female sex hor:
mones, both made artificially,
also were used in -her- study.
But the doctor said they. failed
ta.prolong lives even ‘though
they loweved the amotint of}
fat in the patients’ blood.

Raises Cholesterol Question. |

On the other hand, the Pre-
marin :pills-had no effect’ on
blood fats—yet seemed to. keep
more men-alive longer.”

jeath rate among ment

 

This casts. doubt. on how
much good can be accomp-

lished by medicines designed

to reduce cholesterol, the chief
fat-like substance in the bleod
tobe associated with,heart at-
taeks. .

In-all, 854 men.-— each of
whom had suffered at least
one heart seizure—-have taken
part in the study through two
Los Angeles hospitals.

After. 39 months, only 8 per-
cent of the men treated with
Premarin have died. But
among those whe received
similarly low doses of. syn-
thetic female hormones or no
medication at all, death
claimed 22. to 33 percent.

Since. the numbers in some
of. the longer-treated groups
are small, Dr. Marmorston
based her conclusions only on
patients studied for 18 months.

“Significant” Difference.

During this year and a half,
14 to 19 percent of the non-
Premarin patients died. But
only 5 percent who got the
horse-made hormone succumb-
ed. She said this was a “sig-
nificant” difference.

Premarin, available only on
prescription, is generally used
to. tveat, female disorders, in-
cluding these connected with
the “change of life.”

“The idea for using female
sex hormones to treat heart
disease is based on the fact

women are less susceptible to

such attacks until after the
“change,” when thelr produc-
tion of these hormones vir-
tually ends.

Dr. Marmorston’s study,
now in its fourth year, is he-
ing supported by the U.S. gov-
ernment’s National Heart Ins-
titute and the Lasker Founda-
tion.

 

NEW YORK WORLD-TELEGRAM AND SUN, THURSDAY. , JANUARY 26, 1961