Why Women Have Lower Stroke Risk
Posted on: Thursday, 25 August 2005, 21:00 CDT
Estrogen may be why premenopausal women have a lower stroke risk than men, according to a University of California at Irvine School of Medicine study.
Dr. Vincent Procaccio of the Center for Molecular and Mitochondrial Medicine and Genetics led a team that discovered estrogen receptors in vascular mitochondrial cells.
They removed the ovaries from test rats, which suppressed any hormone influence, and identified a significant increase in radical oxygen molecule levels and a decline in the capacity for mitochondria to produce energy. In rats treated with doses of estrogen, however, vascular mitochondria produced energy more efficiently with lower amounts of damaging free radicals.
Women aged 30 to 50 have about five times less risk of stroke than men, but the difference disappears when women reach menopause. Recent clinical trials with certain hormone replacement therapies in older women did not show protection from stroke.
The study appears in the online version of Molecular Pharmacology.
Source: United Press International
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