SAN DIEGO, April 5 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers have found that hormones may be the reason men are four times more likely to develop aneurysms.
Researchers at the University of Kentucky found when they removed circulating hormones, including testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, from male mice, they lowered their risk of developing aneurysms -- dangerous weaknesses in arterial walls. When the researchers gave female mice the same male sex hormones, their aneurysm risk increased to the level of males.
The female mice given the male sex hormones also developed more severe aneurysms compared to female mice given placebos.
The goal now is to find out why the hormones affect the walls of the arteries in this way. If scientists can determine a link, they might be able to develop a drug treatment to prevent aneurysms.
