If someone has an overactive thyroid, taking the heart medication propranolol might help lower certain thyroid hormone levels in their blood — possibly because the drug affects how the body converts one hormone into another.

Propranolol might lower more than just one type of thyroid hormone in rats — it could affect another key hormone too, meaning it has a wider effect on how the thyroid system works.

Even in people with healthy thyroids, taking the heart medication propranolol might change how their body processes thyroid hormones — raising some levels, lowering others.

If someone has an overactive thyroid, taking the heart medication propranolol might lower certain thyroid hormone levels, and how much it blocks the body’s ‘fight-or-flight’ system could be linked to how strong this effect is.

Propranolol helps calm down an overactive thyroid by slowing your heart and stopping the body from turning one thyroid hormone into a stronger one.

In rats, taking the blood pressure drug propranolol seems to lower a key thyroid hormone, which might mean this type of medication affects how the body processes thyroid hormones.