MedWire News: Women benefit less than men from drug treatments for an enlarged heart, scientists claim.

Two common blood pressure-lowering drugs often used to treat the condition reduced the size of the heart more in men than in women, US researchers report.

This occurred even though both genders showed similar improvements in blood pressure.

The important findings, published in the journal Hypertension, might help explain why the condition puts women at higher risk of heart disease in later life than men.

Lead author Dr Peter Okin (Cornell University Medical Center, New York, USA) said: "Women have a greater chance of dying of their first heart attack and from stroke, and then tend to have more cardiovascular problems later in life compared with men."

For the study, Okin and colleagues studied electrocardiograms, which measure the heart's electrical activity, of 9193 people taking part in a hypertension trial. The patients were randomly assigned to receive one of two common blood pressure-lowering treatments - losartan and atenolol - for 5 years.

After accounting for risk factors, including age, race, and known causes of heart disease, the researchers found that the size of women's hearts regressed more than men's, and that this difference in regression widened significantly over the 5 years of follow-up.

In people with an enlarged heart (left ventricular hypertrophy), the muscle of part of the left side of their heart is thickened and enlarged.

"Left ventricular hypertrophy is a very serious condition," said Dr Okin. "When the heart's muscle is thicker than it should be, the heart has to work harder." Symptoms of left ventricular hypertrophy include shortness of breath, chest pain, dizziness, irregular heartbeat, and fainting.

There may be no signs or symptoms of left ventricular hypertrophy for many years, explained Dr Okin. But people with the condition face a higher risk of heart disease in later life, making screening with electrocardiography essential.