When faced with stress, men react differently from women, according to a recent American study published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.
We are not all equal when it comes to stress. A recent study has shown that the action of a protein can make some people more vulnerable. But stress can also cause different consequences on health depending on the sex, especially at the heart level. This is what a recent study published in the Journal of American College of Cardiology.
Physical and psychological tests
American researchers at Duke University (North Carolina) followed 310 people with heart disease. Among them, 56 women and 254 men. The participants had to take several tests: mental arithmetic, drawing, telephone conversation with an angry person, running session on a treadmill. During each activity, the blood pressure and heart rate of the participants were assessed. The same examinations were made during the rest phase. Blood samples were also taken.
Higher blood pressure in men
Researchers have found that women exposed to mental stress are more likely than men to suffer from myocardial ischemia, due to an imbalance between the myocardial oxygen supply and demand. Women who are stressed are also more likely than men to develop blood clots. Finally, stress generates more negative emotions in women. Stressed men, on the other hand, have higher blood pressure than women.
In view of these results, Dr. Zainad Samad, lead author of the study, deplores the insufficiency of tools for assessing cardiac risk by gender and suggests that doctors take more account of these male-female differences in their diagnoses.
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