Medical research continues to find differences between men and women in the ways our bodies behave, in health, illness, and in response to medical treatment. A study recently performed to evaluate the effects of mental stress on cardiovascular function found a striking difference between the sexes. Both showed evidence of elevated pulse and blood pressure during stress, but men were able to mitigate that effect by increasing blood flow to the heart muscle, whereas women showed no change in coronary blood flow. Many clinicians have described the heart disease symptoms unique to women and now we understand that mental stress might be a more likely cause of heart problems for women than men.
