FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 16, 2009
Contact: Donna Krupa
Office: (301) 634-7209
dkrupa@the-aps.org
One Disease, Two Effects:
Stroke
The
risks and outcomes are not the same in both sexes
 BROOMFIELD, CO (July 16, 2009) − Congress is
expected to take up legislation this summer aimed at improving the nation’s
healthcare system. Whatever the shape of the final bill, it will have at
least some impact on one of the three leading causes of death in the U.S.:
stroke.
Stroke typically occurs when arteries become blocked,
preventing blood from flowing to the brain. When the brain is deprived of
blood and oxygen, brain cells die and long-term brain damage results. For
this reason, a stroke is also known as a brain attack. It is an illness that
affects male and female brains differently although scientists are not sure
why.
To discuss the current state of gender research and
stroke, Patricia Hurn, a renowned expert in stroke and sex differences, and
Professor and Vice Chair for research in the Department of Anesthesiology
and Perioperative Medicine at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU)
School of Medicine, will address attendees at the Sex Steroids and
Gender in Cardiovascular-Renal Physiology and Pathophysiology conference,
being held July 15-18, 2009 in Broomfield, Colorado. The program,
sponsored by The American Physiological Society (www.the-aps.org/press),
attracts scientists in the field of gender biology, physiology, medicine and
related fields.
Stroke and Gender
While both males and females are at risk for stroke,
males have a particular sensitivity. Data show that male stroke victims
outnumber females by about two to one. Actor Kirk Douglas, Cuban leader
Fidel Castro and singer Barry White are among high profile men who have
suffered a stroke.
Women are likewise at risk for stroke and, as they age,
their outcomes are often worse than their male counterpart’s. Hurn thinks
the outcomes phenomenon may be because women are typically older than men
when a stroke occurs.
In terms of stroke treatment, men again have a
disadvantage. For example, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), the only drug
therapy approved by the FDA for stroke treatment, has been shown to improve
stroke outcome and generate brain damage response in women but to a lesser
extent in men. And even at the smallest level of new discovery -- the
molecular and cellular level -- male and female dish cultures respond
differently.
Is Estrogen the Answer to Stroke Prevention?
Since females carry the sex hormone estrogen
researchers have long examined whether it protects the XY brain and thus
shields it from stroke’s injury and damage. Large scale and in-depth studies
of animals have shown that there is a protective effect for animals, but
results in human studies have been less conclusive.
In fact, in the U.S. government’s largest study
involving estrogen and cardiovascular disease, known as the Women’s Health
Initiative (WHI), researchers found a small detrimental risk of stroke among
the women taking estrogen. Whether the risk was an anomaly due to the study
parameters is not yet clear. In the meantime the effect of estrogen remains
an unexplained variable in the effort to understand stroke.
A New Focus: Testosterone
Researchers have focused on the effect of estrogen for
more than 15 years. With no apparent conclusion at hand, Hurn and her
colleagues have shifted their investigative focus to the influence of
testosterone, the primary male hormone, in stroke. According to Hurn, “We
think this approach, coupled with examining brain stroke injury at the
molecular and cellular level, is the best way to get at some of the
underlying issues that have challenged us scientists for so long.”
Conclusion
Despite the fact that men are more likely to suffer a
stroke, they are not the only ones affected. The differences between male
and female stroke may in fact put women at a greater disadvantages than men
in terms of their health outcomes. “It is our hope that by bringing fresh
approaches to existing studies we may be able to improve the chances of
surviving a disease that strikes one individual every 45 seconds, and kills
an individual every three minutes,” says Hurn.
*******
Physiology
is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create
health or disease. The American Physiological Society (APS;
www.the-APS.org/press) has been an integral part of the discovery
process since it was established in 1887.
To review the
complete program for the Sex Steroids and Gender conference, log on
to
http://www.the-aps.org/meetings/aps/gender/index.htm for a copy of the
complete program. To schedule an interview with Dr. Hurn please
contact Donna Krupa at 301.634.7209 or
DKrupa@the-APS.org.
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