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Stronger Hearts Let Women Live Longer, Study Reveals ; Professor Urges Exercise Crusade to Help People Age Healthily

Posted on: Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 12:00 CST

WOMEN are living longer than men because they have stronger hearts, Liverpool researchers have found.

A team from John Moores University discovered men's hearts lose up to a quarter of their pumping power from 18 years old to 70.

But there was little change in women's hearts from 20 to 70, the study of 250 Merseysiders revealed.

It could solve the riddle of why, on average, women live five years longer than men.

David Goldspink, professor of Cell and Molecular Sports Science at JMU, said women's longevity is linked to the strength of their hearts.

He said: "We have found that the power of the male heart falls by 20%-25% between 18 and 70 years of age.

"In stark contrast, over the same period, there was no age- related decline in the power of the female heart, meaning that the heart of a healthy 70-year-old woman could perform almost as well as a 20-year-olds. "

The dramatic difference between the sexes could explain why women over the age of 60 are now the fastest-growing section of the British population.

However, the good news is men of any age can improve the health of their heart simply by taking more regular exercise.

The results are based on the findings of a two-year study of a cross section of local people, to examine the effects of ageing on the cardiovascular system.

None of the volunteers, all aged between 18 and 80, had an exercise routine and all were considered to have low fitness levels, but were otherwise healthy.

Each volunteer underwent five hours of tests to measure their blood pressure and the performance of their heart while at rest and while they exercised on a treadmill.

The researchers found that the large arteries in the body became stiffer and less elastic with age, causing increased blood pressure.

Blood flow to the muscles and the skin on the limbs was also found progressively to decrease.

The changes were found to occur earlier in men, but women caught up soon after the menopause.

Prof Goldspink said: "By simultaneously studying both men and women, we have been able to look for either similarities or differences between the two sexes as we get older.

"We now have a much clearer holistic picture of changes that take place in the human body throughout our life cycle. "

The decrease in the power of the male heart was attributed to a loss of millions of cells that regulate the contraction and relaxation of the heart muscle.

Prof Goldspink said: "Between the ages of 20 and 70, men lose around one third of these contractile cells as a consequence of ageing, but the amount lost is a lot less in the female heart. "

The JMU team will attempt to find why these cells are preserved better in women than in men.

In a related study, Professor Goldspink found the hearts of veteran male athletes between the ages of 50 and 70 were as powerful as those of 20-year-old male undergraduates who did not exercise.

He is now calling for a major public campaign to tell people how much exercise they should take to ensure they age healthily. He said: "The public need better information and advice based on strong scientific evidence. Once we can tell them precisely what health benefits they can gain in response to different levels of physical activity, they can make realistic and informed choices themselves. "

Source: Daily Post; Liverpool

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