Women live longer than men because of better hearts

LONDON - Women live longer than men because their hearts are stronger, new findings by British researchers suggest.

A research team at the Liverpool John Moores University found that men’s hearts lose up to 25 per cent of their pumping power between the age of 18 and 70, whereas female hearts remain nearly as strong over the same period of time.

The researchers explained that in male hearts, a third of the millions of contractile cells, which enable the heart to beat, die and are not replaced.

“What surprised us is that there is very little loss of these cells in the female heart”, professor Goldspink, who led the team of researchers, told the Daily Telegraph newspaper. The heart of a healthy 70-year-old women could perform almost as well as a 20- year-old’s, he added.

“This dramatic gender difference might just explain why women live longer than men,” professor Goldspink said. Female life expectancy in Britain is five years longer than in men.

However, related research by professor Goldspink concluded the loss of power in the ageing male heart could be prevented or slowed down by engaging in regular aerobic exercise.

The university’s research unit for human development and ageing studied more than 250 healthy men and women between the ages of 18 and 80 years. Only healthy individuals were included in the research to avoid the distracting influence of disease.

DPA

Photo courtesy: medicine.jbpub.com