Gender May Affect Heart’s Reaction to Stress

Stress may affect women and men with heart disease in different ways, a new study suggests. The study included 254 men and 56 women. They were given 3 mentally stressful tasks. Men showed greater increases in blood pressure and heart rate than women did. But for women the stress had a greater impact on the heart. They were more likely than men to have decreased blood flow to the heart. They also had more clumping of blood cells, which could lead to clots. Differences were seen in emotional responses to stress as well. Women had a greater increase in negative emotions than men while doing the stressful tasks. They also had a larger decline in positive emotions. The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published the study online. HealthDay News wrote about it October 13.