Washington: Mental stress affects the cardiovascular health of men and women differently, according  to a new study which suggests that treatments for heart disease should be more gender-based.

"The relationship between mental stress and cardiovascular disease is well known," said the study's lead author Zainab Samad, assistant professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center. "This study revealed that mental stress affects the cardiovascular health of men and women differently. We need to recognise this difference when evaluating and treating patients for cardiovascular disease," Samad said.