It has been observed that men are more prone to heart risk as compared to women . According to a new research led by University of Leicester sex hormones are responsible for it. According to Dr Maciej Tomaszewski, New Blood Lecturer in Cardiovascular Medicine in the Department of Cardiovascular Sciences at the University of Leicester this problem of males occur due to naturally occurring sex hormones .The research was done by studying at least 1000 men having age group about 19 years at Young Men Cardiovascular Association study .They studied the interaction of sex hormones with the major heart disease like blood pressure,cholesterol and weight .
Estradiol and Estrone, called together Estrogens increases the level of bad cholesterol (LDL-cholesterol) and decrease the level of good one(HDL-cholesterol) . According to a talk with Dr Tomaszewski he commented that :“We examined associations of circulating estrogens (estradiol and estrone) as well as androgens (testosterone and androstenedione) with major cardiovascular risk factors (lipids, blood pressure, body mass) in 933 young (median age – 19 years), apparently healthy men.
“Our studies showed that one of the sex hormones - estradiol - was associated positively with total cholesterol and negatively with HDL-cholesterol. Circulating concentrations of another sex hormone - estrone - showed strong positive associations with both total cholesterol and LDL-cholesterol.
“Thus, men with the highest concentrations of estrone and estradiol may have the highest level of cardiovascular risk as their levels of detrimental LDL-cholesterol are high whilst their cardio-protective HDL-cholesterol is low.
“Most importantly, the demonstrated associations between cholesterol and estrogens were independent of other sex hormones (testosterone and androstenedione), age, body weight, blood pressure and other potential confounding factors.
“Our data suggest that higher levels of estrogens may have negative influence on lipid profile in men early in life, before the apparent onset of cardiovascular disease.
“Why natural endogenous estrogens that are generally seen as cardio-protective in women increase cardiovascular risk in men remains to be elucidated. Future prospective studies are needed to confirm that higher levels of endogenous estrogens in youth increase the risk of heart disease later in man’s life.
“A number of other investigations on sex-specific aspects of cardiovascular disease are in progress in our Department and I am sure that we will be able to continue providing information in this area of research in the future.”
SOURCE :EUREKALERT! via University of Leicester .