A new study by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey has found that women may be more likely to have heart problems due to mental stress than men.
The research found that coronary blood flow increases in men when they are under mental stress. But for women there was no recorded increase in coronary blood flow during periods of mental stress. Thus, the authors of the study conclude that women could be more susceptible to cardiac problems when under mental stress.
Previous studies have shown that men have less blood flow than women during the physical stress of exercise. But during times of mental stress, such as the loss of a loved one, the opposite appears to be true, and women may be more likely than men to have a coronary event at these times.