Testosterone may explain why men have more heart attacks

Testosterone may be one of the reasons why men are more prone to heart attacks than women, research suggests.Scientists at the University of Edinburgh examined the effects of testosterone on blood vessel tissue and found it triggered the production of hard deposits in a process called calcification.These deposits "powerfully" predict the chance of a person suffering death or major problems due to heart disease, they said.But when mice in the study had testosterone receptors removed so they could no longer respond to the hormone, they produced far fewer hard deposits.Calcification causes blood vessels to harden and thicken, making the heart work harder to pump blood around the body. It can also affect the valves of the heart, preventing them opening and shutting properly.The authors said their findings suggested testosterone played a role in calcification and the discovery may lead to new treatments to prevent heart disease.Funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), the study was published in the journal Scientific Reports.Researchers also examined blood vessel and valve tissue from people with heart...