A new study suggests that young women with heart disease may suffer more from mental stress compared with their male counterparts, according to the media outlet Live Science.

Researchers reportedly stated that the effects of psychological stress, which doesn't show up on heart patients' regular medical tests, may explain why women with heart disease are more likely to die from heart attacks than are men with heart disease.

"There's a very interesting paradox concerning young women and chronic heart disease," stated study researcher Dr. Viola Vaccarino, chairwoman of cardiovascular research and epidemiology at Emory University's School of Pubic Health in Atlanta, Georgia.

Vaccarino added, "They have high mortality and complication rates after heart attacks compared with men of the same age."

For the study, 534 patients with coronary heart disease ages 38 to 79 reportedly underwent a mental stress test and a conventional physical stress tests while their hearts were being monitored.

The heart scans reportedly showed "dramatic differences" between men and women during the mental stress test, particularly in younger people according to Vaccarino. When under mental stress, women ages 55 and younger showed a reduction in blood flow to the heart that was three times that of men of the same age, according to The Tribune.

The difference between men and women was reportedly smaller among people ages 56 to 64, but women in that group showed a greater reduction in blood flow to the heart during mental stress compared with men of the same age. There were reportedly no gender differences in patients 65 and older, researchers found.

"Women who develop heart disease at a younger age make up a special, high-risk group because they are disproportionally vulnerable to emotional stress," stated Vaccarino.