Traditionally, men and woman are treated in pretty much the same way for stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular diseases. However, an astounding discovery by a team of Australian scientists reveals that this may in fact be a completely wrong approach.
A recent study conducted at Monash School of Biomedical Sciences in Melbourne reveals that a chemical compound found in both men and women can be easily targeted to control the debilitating and disabling effects of stroke.
The major feature of this treatment is that it is gender-specific. In order for this compound to protect from the harmful effects of stroke, it must be blocked in men and triggered in women.
The chemical compound we’re talking about is the hormone estrogen. A group of medical researchers from the Melbourne University, reveal that the newly discovered estrogen receptor called GPER plays an important role in determining the severity of stroke. Estrogen is primarily a female hormone, but small amounts of this hormone are also found in men.
During the animal trials, researchers discovered that by obstructing the estrogen receptor in males using certain drugs, they were able to effectively relieve the symptoms of stroke when administered up to four hours after the episode.
In contrast, stimulating the estrogen receptor in older females seemed to have a protective effect from the dangerous effects of stroke. Researchers noticed that triggering the estrogen receptor in younger females had no effect, as at a younger age, they have naturally high amounts of estrogen in their bodies.
The findings of this research were published recently in Stroke magazine and further research might even be able to explain why strokes are more common in men than women until the age of 75. Women have high levels of estrogen in their body, up until the menopause period.
After menopause, the estrogen level gradually drops and by the age of 75, the estrogen level in men and women are almost similar. However, after the age of 85, women experience stroke much more frequently than men.
The researchers have concluded that even though they can’t explain accurately how this mechanism works, the findings are definitely significant and could help many people avoid the crippling consequences of stroke in a gender-specific manner.
For instance, if a man is brought to an emergency room after a stroke episode, he could be administered an estrogen receptor blocker. On the other hand, if a woman is brought in after a stroke, she can be given the estrogen activator.
Though further studies are required to fully understand the role of this hormone and use it in stroke treatment, it gives a ray of hope to many people who are at a higher risk of stroke.
When a stroke occurs, no medications or treatment can cure it completely or even alleviate the symptoms significantly. That’s why it’s so important to take presentational actions.
There are excellent prevention methods that are effective and work similar for men and women. Here are the best options:
This is great finding for stroke research.It means for us men,we just take estrogen inhibitor to keep out from stroke.How about the dosage?
It is nice to finally hear that scientists have found possible differences between stroke treatment for men and women. Even better, there may be a treatment during and after a stroke that could lessen the severity of stroke. Given there are various types of strokes, I’d be interested to know if the treatment would be useful for all strokes or just a specific type of stroke. Currently doctors are making the public aware of the differences between men and women in symptoms of heart attack, another vital area that causes women to dismiss symptoms that could be fatal if not acknowledged. For many years now, they have recognized that the levels of testosterone in women and estrogen in men, while lower for each still plays a vital role in endocrinology management of various ailments: diabetes, hypo- and hyper-thyroid, etc., e.g.. — even for DVTs. I had to read the article twice before I realized that this treatment is with GPER, not the hormone itself. My questions are, “How difficult is it to isolate this GPER, how stable is the GPER, and can it be produced and immediately available to EMTs for treatment of strokes on the way to the ER?”
Some women who have had breast cancer are not allowed to have anything with estrogen in it.