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Gender differences in the decline in aerobic capacity and its physiological determinants during the later decades of life

¹Section of Applied Physiology, Division of Geriatrics and Nutritional Sciences, and ²Cardiovascular Division, Department of Internal Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

Submitted 4 November 2005 ; accepted in final form 15 February 2006

We investigated the hemodynamic determinants of the age-associated decline in maximal oxygen uptake (O_{2 max}) and the influence of gender on the decline in O_{2 max} and its determinants in old and very old men and women. Sedentary, 60- to 92-yr-old women (n = 71) and men (n = 29), with no evidence of cardiovascular disease, underwent maximal treadmill exercise tests during which O_{2 max} and maximal cardiac output (_max) were determined. O_{2 max} and age were inversely related in both women (–23 ± 2 ml·min^–1·yr^–1; P < 0.0001) and men (–57 ± 5 ml·min^–1·yr^–1; P < 0.0001). The absolute slope of the O_{2 max} vs. age relationship was twofold steeper in men than in women (P < 0.0001). _max was also inversely related to age in a gender-specific manner (women = –87 ± 25 ml·min^–1·yr^–1, P = 0.0009; men = –215 ± 50 ml·min^–1·yr^–1, P = 0.0002; P = 0.01 women vs. men). Age-related changes in maximal exercise arteriovenous oxygen content difference (a-vDO₂) were marginally different (P = 0.08) between women (–0.12 ± 0.03 ml·dl^–1·yr^–1, P = 0.0003) and men (–0.22 ± 0.04 ml·dl^–1·yr^–1, P < 0.0001). Age-associated decreases in _max and a-vDO₂ contributed equally to the declines in O_{2 max} in both men and women. In the later stages of life, O_{2 max}, _max, and a-vDO₂ decrease with age more rapidly in older men than they do in older women. As a result, the gender differences dissipate in the later decades of life. Declines in _max and a-vDO₂ contribute equally to the age-related decrease in O_{2 max} in men and women.

exercise; cardiac output; hemodynamics; maximal oxygen uptake; aging