Chronic stress takes a toll on both men and women’s hearts. But there is evidence suggesting that women may be even more sensitive to stress.

According to researchers at Emory University, stress may result in physiological changes that make women more prone to heart attack.

They found that women who have stable heart disease are more likely than men to suffer from reduced blood flow to their hearts when they are under emotional stress.

The researchers suggested that this may occur because young and middle-age women tend to have more stressful lives than men, in that they not only have jobs, but often are also cast in the role of primary caretakers for their kids and aging parents.

But the Emory researchers also believe the difference could be one of physiology, in that vessels bringing blood to the female heart tends to narrow under such conditions, constricting flow and setting the stage for a heart attack.

Duke University researchers found just such a biological difference in a study they published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

When people are under stress, their cardiac vessels should expand to accommodate an increased flow of blood to the heart.

But when the researchers reviewed data on 254 men and 56 women with histories of heart disease, they found that 57 percent of female participants experienced ischemia (inadequate blood supply), compared to 41 percent of the men.