WHEN girls go through puberty their physical fitness can decline, while
boys remain as fit as before. Paediatricians in Croatia now claim that this is
due to a slowing in heart growth that affects girls in the year after their
first period.
Goran Milicevic of the Krapinske Hospital and his colleagues studied a
group of girls and boys for 3 years. In the latest issue of Annals of Human
Biology (vol 24, p 169), the researchers report that as the girls entered
puberty the growth of their left ventricles slowed for about a year. This
reduced their capacity for exercise. The boys’ hearts continued to grow at the
same rate as the rest of their bodies.
