14 DAY TRIAL // Anatomy-wise, the hearts of men and women are very much alike. There are four chambers, the membrane encompassing them and keeping them safe, and blood vessels going in and out of them.
All the same, scientists with the Radiological Society of North America say that, as similar as they might seem at first glance, the fact of the matter is the hearts of men and women age differently.
Specifically, the research team say that the so-called left ventricle, which they describe as the heart's main pumping chamber, is the one that behaves differently in men and women as they get older.
How the hearts of men and women age differently
In a report published in the science journal Radiology, the specialists explain how, as part of this study into how aging affects men and women, they monitored a total of 2,935 volunteers and documented the slightest changes in the makeup of hearts for up to 9.4 years.
The investigation revealed that, over the study period, the left ventricle of the hearts of men increased in size. In turn, the left ventricle of the women the researchers monitored got somewhat smaller.
In their paper, the researcher team detail that, according to their investigations, the left ventricle of men appears to gain an average 8 grams (roughly 0.28 ounces) over a decade. By comparison, the left ventricle of women tends to lose some 1.6 grams (0.05 ounces).
These changes were found to correlate with shifts in base systolic blood pressure, i.e. the pressure in the arteries during contractions of the heart muscle. A link with body weight was also established.
What this discovery means for the health sector
Having discovered that the hearts of men and women age differently in that the anatomy of the left ventricle changes depending on gender, the researchers say this means that perhaps men and women diagnosed with various heart diseases should be prescribed distinct treatments.
“The findings may support different treatment approaches for men and women with heart disease,” the Radiological Society of North America research team wrote in a statement.
Then, the scientists also say that further investigations should be carried out to better document this link between gender and age-related changes in the heart's makeup.
“These results highlight the importance of longitudinal study and suggest sex-specific differences in age-related cardiac remodeling,” the specialists commented on their work.
