In the United States, heart disease continues to be the number one cause of death of both men and women. However,the numbers are not the same between the two genders(性别): clearly more men than women are diagnosed with heart disease every year.
In a new study, researchers involved 17 male and female volunteers, a near-equal mix of both genders, and looked for the effects stress had on the blood flow of their hearts. The tests were taken in all the subjects at rest and also while they did three minutes of mental math where they were given a series of arithmetic problems. In order to increase the stress levels during performing this task, the researchers urged(敦促) the participants to solve the problems faster or told them that they gave the wrong answer even when the answer was correct. At the end of the task, all 17 volunteers went through the same three heart function tests again.
It turned out that at rest there were very few differences between the results of the three tests in both men and women. During the mental math experiment, all the participants showed an increase in heart rates and blood pressure, regardless of gender. However, researchers found that while men showed an increase in the blood flow of their hearts under stress, there was no change in women. Dr. Chester Ray, professor of medicine who led the research, said in the statement that the findings come as a surprise since previous(先前的) studies have shown that men have more greatly reduced the heart blood flow than women during the physical stress from exercising. He added that reduction of stress is important to any person, regardless of gender,but this new study shows how mental stress differently affects the hearts of women, putting them at higher risk of heart disease.
According to researchers, these new findings of their work show the influence of mental or emotional stress on a person's physical health, and could explain why the heart disease like losing a partner happens almost only in women. More studies on the matter are needed in order to find out the reason behind this gender difference in the body's response to stress more thoroughly. More research could lead to more effective treatments and better prevention efforts for women who are more likely to suffer heart disease.
【小题1】What did the researchers want to do by forcing the subjects to work faster?
A.To get them to feel more stressed physically. |
B.To make them feel more worried emotionally. |
C.To let them give the wrong answer on purpose. |
D.To have them perform worse in the tests at last. |
【小题2】From the passage we can know the previous studies ______.
A.have explained how physical activity increases men's heart blood flow |
B.have shown the relationship between a person's mental stress and physical stress |
C.have shown physical activity makes men's heart blood flow reduced more than women |
D.have explained the importance of keeping mental and physical health regardless of gender |
【小题3】What can be concluded from the passage?
A.Mental stress hurts men's hearts more than women's. |
B.Mental stress has a gender difference at different time. |
C.Women feel more heartbroken when losing a partner. |
D.Women will benefit a lot from more related studies. |
【小题4】Where can you most probably read this passage?
A.In a guidebook. |
B.In a fiction book. |
C.In a health magazine. |
D.In a fashion magazine. |