Why Men’s Lives Are Shorter Than Women’s?

Research has shown that in almost all countries, women live for more years than men do. In most countries, there are more women among the people over 80 years of age than men. In USA, the number of men in this age group is less than half of that of women. Neither are there any hidden reasons for this, nor is it a case of nature’s bias toward the so-called weaker sex. It is true that physiologically women are equipped with certain survival features that help them to live longer. For example, men are more prone to heart attacks than are women, regardless of the age group. However, the comparatively lower life expectancy of men is mainly due to their psychological make-up and social outlook than the better physiological features of women.

The following are some of the reasons why men’s lives are shorter than women’s.

The Adventure Streak And Adrenalin Rush

If you take the cases of war, bomb blasts, riots, accidents, and other mass killing social phenomena, more than 90% of the killed are men. In the prevailing circumstances, men fight wars, go for rescue works, and engage in physically demanding and risky activities. These cannot be changed overnight. However, some of the other aspects such as street fights and reckless driving can be avoided. Young men are more prone to cause road accidents and engage in hooliganism. All these contribute to lower the average life expectancy of men.

Suicidal Tendencies

There are no specific reasons for men committing suicides more than women do. Some psychologists remark that more women contemplate about or attempt to commit suicide. However, a majority of them fail because of last minute second thoughts. Men, on the other hand, have the ability to muster enough courage to end their life in the critical last minutes. Moreover, once they have decided to commit suicides, it is unlikely to change. In short, more men end up committing suicides than women.

Hesitance In Seeking Medical Help

Men, by their very macho nature, are hesitant to show their frailties. Most of them want to be seen as a powerful and strong personality. Therefore, men do not seek medical help as often as women do. Men usually go to hospitals only when others persuade them to do so or when the discomfort arising from the disease becomes unbearable. The lack of timely medical intervention can also spoil men’s figures in life expectancy charts.

Physiological Reasons

In several aspects, women are inherently more capable than men to resist the diseases. As women has to perform one of the noblest and most vital activities, that is giving birth to the future generation, nature has endowed women with more immunity against many diseases such as heart attack and certain coronary diseases.

The reason for this is the difference in sex hormones. While men have more testosterone content, which tends to impair the immune system slightly, women have more estrogen content, which enhances the functioning of the immune system. Estrogen content makes sure that women have more HDL cholesterol, which is good for immunity, and less LDL cholesterol, which is not so good for immunity. In men, it is the other way around. In addition, men are more prone to get abdominal fat deposit than are women.

Lifestyle Differences

Men tend to over eat and party hard. There are also more prone to substance abuse and over consumption of alcohol. These unhealthy habits prevent men from having a lengthy life span as females do.

Share

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

User Reviews

Reply

Your email address will not be published

5 × three =

Written by HealthStatus Team
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our blood alcohol, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years. Our team of health professionals, and researchers use peer reviewed studies as source elements in our articles. Our high quality content has been featured in a number of leading websites, USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, Live Strong, GQ, and many more.

View all post by HealthStatus Team