Why women live longer

Intro

• American Man 76yrs, Woman 81yr

  • And the woman’s extra years tend to be healthy ones.
  • World Wide avg is about 3 yrs if born the same day and location.

  • Women live about 5% longer than men

  • Including “Deaths of all causes”

  • In 2015, of 50 oldest people alive, 2 were men
  • This gender gap in life expectancy is true for all societies, and it is also true for the great apes, chimpanzees, orangutans.

  • One early thought was that men worked more physical jobs throughout their lives.

  • But if that were so, the gender life expectancy would be getting more narrow, it’s not

Early life

• “Early advantage” More males are born; 105 to every 100 girls

  • 7% higher fetal death of males
  • Increases to 21% more than females by first birthday
  • Pattern continues, by 65yrs old there are only 75 men for every 100 women

Men vs Women General

• Men are larger

  • Larger bodies use more energy, which causes more wear and tear
  • Taller people have more cells that turn over and greater chances for mutations
  • Eating 1600kcal will have you live longer than 2000

  • More Stubborn with avoiding health care for routine checkups and health concerns

  • And less compliant to treatment

  • Men have more visceral fat whereas women have more subcutaneous fat

  • Testosterone Vs Estrogens

  • More visceral fat increases cardiovascular disease risk

Risky behavior-

• Valid, but not the largest factor in life expectancy difference

  • Increased habits of smoking, drinking, and over eating

    • More so in some countries than others
    • Russian men die 13 years on average prior to women

Risky/Avoidable Early Death

• Men more likely all deaths from all causes in all age groups-accidents, suicide, malignant neoplasms, diseases of the circulatory system, homicide, and chronic liver disease and cirrhosis

  • except automobile accidents - as driver

    • Possible reasons

      • In general women drive less
      • They are shorter and can make it harder to see, especially at intersections

• Men `10x more likely to die at work- riskier jobs and take larger risks when on job site

• Women have always gotten sick more, even after accounting for how they care more about being medically checked on

  • Theory- women get more infections to build antibodies for offspring for a better immune system

Hormones

• Estrogens

  • “Jogging female heart” hypothesis –

    • Women’s heart rate increases during 2nd half of menstrual cycle

      • Offers the same benefits as mild/moderate exercise
        • Sex hormone Oestrogen is a strong antioxidant

    • Estrogens have been found to prevent DNA damage and aid longevity

    • Men can benefit from it though too
    • Testosterone

  • Korean scientist noticed Eunuchs lived for 70yrs on average

    • Average male was 50yrs

    • 130x more likely to see their 100th birthday

      • Same finding for psychiatric patients “treated” by castration

    • But only if done so before the age of 15

      • Testosterone protects our cardiovascular system early in life, and increases risk when older

    • Hypertension, CVD, atherosclerosis, etc

Chromosomes

• Chromosomes come in pairs, and whereas women have two X chromosomes, men have an X and a Y chromosome.

  • May slightly alter the way cells age

    • Women having an extra copy of every gene is a “spare” if the other goes faulty/mutated

    • Men don’t have that back-up. The result is that more cells may begin to malfunction with time, putting men at greater risk of disease.

      • Thousands of cell cycles later could make a difference

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