A study published October 20 says that the heart ages differently for women and men, U.S News Health reports.
Since the study suggests that the hearts age differently for the two sexes, it also stresses on the need for gender specific treatments.
This was the finding of a federally funded study, led by Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD, MNT reports.
The study was published in the journal Radiology.
"The shape of the heart changes over time in both men and women, but the patterns of change are different. Men's hearts tend to get heavier and the amount of blood they hold is less, while women's hearts don't get heavier," study author Dr. John Eng, from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, said in a journal news release.
For the study, the researchers used MRIs to study the hearts of nearly 3,000 people in the United States. None of the participants were diagnosed with heart disease.
After 10 years, the participants underwent another MRI when they were aged 54 to 94 years. The researchers found that the mass of the left ventricle increased in men, while it decreased slightly in women.
The findings suggest that different treatment approaches may be required for men and women with heart disease.
"We've been talking a lot lately about personalized medicine, and here's an example where perhaps men and women might have to be treated differently," Eng said.
The researchers concluded that they do not know what causes these gender-related heart changes. However, the results explain some of the differences we see in heart failure between men and women, MNT reports.
