Exercise physiologists talk about sex differences

The number of publications addressing sex differences and exercise physiology has increased from 12, before 1970, to as many as 1344 through October 2007, according to a recent PubMed search. The following symposium represents three distinct examples of how exercise physiologists are approaching the issue of sex differences in various aspects of physiology. Tarnapolsky presents data from studies of sex and sex hormone effects on substrate use, a factor that may distinguish between the capacities of women and men to excel at exercise performance at different durations and intensities. Harms and Rosenkranz provide insight into the potential limitations of respiratory function at increased exercise intensities in the female sex attributable, in part, to sex-based anatomic differences in respiratory anatomy. Milne and Noble discuss important findings concerning the cardioprotective aspect of exercise-induced heat shock proteins versus the inherent cardioprotection of elevated estradiol concentrations in young women. Each paper demonstrates the novel methodology and sophisticated research designs currently being employed to discern sex differences and sex hormone effects on various aspects of exercise physiology.