It is a fact that all over the world, men live shorter lives than women. It is even known that in richer countries, life expectancy is much higher in women than in men. The difference is as much as 18 years in some places..
These data become even more striking when analyzing population growth data: more men than women are born in the world each year. This means that there comes a point on the demographic curve where so many men die that the number of women outnumber them.
What are the reasons why men live shorter lives than women?
Recently, the WHO has provided some interesting data on this subject. The reason why men live shorter lives than women is due to several circumstances.. Moreover, these figures do not seem to be decreasing even though life expectancy in general continues to increase.
The reason why these data are important is because they help to generate sustainable development strategies for the well-being of the population. Knowing the reasons behind these statistics can help to take preventive measures to reverse them.
- You might be interested in: “The 15 most common diseases among women”.
1. Differences in the immune system
For biological reasons, the immune system of girls is stronger. Until 2017, the probability of a boy dying before reaching the age of 5 was 11% higher than that of a girl. Although in more developed countries the figure is not so unbalanced.
Nevertheless, this statistic has made it possible to observe that from the beginning of life, girls have a stronger immune system that helps them fight diseases better, girls have a stronger immune system that helps them to fight diseases better..
This means that if during the first years of life, boys are more susceptible to getting sick, they are also more likely to develop chronic diseases or to suffer lifelong sequelae of some diseases. This would explain some of the inequality in mortality rates.
After the age of 50, the difference between the number of women and men starts to become more noticeable. This could indicate that some sequelae of childhood diseases are carried over throughout life, bringing consequences into adulthood.
- We recommend: “How to strengthen the immune system: 8 effective strategies”.
2. Cardiovascular diseases
Cardiovascular diseases are more frequent in men than in women. This type of disease often significantly impairs the quality of life and the body. Once the disease has developed, it is also men who are more affected by it.
But why are cardiovascular diseases more common in men? There are several reasons for this, one of which is that men have statistically worse eating habits than women.
While this is not a general rule, most men, not being concerned about their figure or maintaining their weight, are more careless about what they eat. This is why they tend to consume food with high amounts of saturated fats, among other negative eating habits.
In addition, once they have developed a cardiovascular disease, the care they receive is usually less than that of women. As a result, their life expectancy is greatly reduced and they end up dying more quickly compared to women in the same conditions.
3. Accidents
Accidents are one of the reasons why men live less than women. This has nothing to do with physical or biological factors. Rather, it is related to the type of life and work that men normally carry out..
As a matter of gender, men are assigned tasks that involve greater physical risk or the use of force. Although women have begun to have a greater presence in these areas, it is a fact that men are still in the majority in certain areas.
Jobs in the areas of construction, extreme sports, mining, fishing or similar, are mostly performed by young men.. Unfortunately, there is a high risk of a serious accident occurring and this contributes to this fatal statistic.
Men are also the main protagonists in traffic accidents. While there is a small portion that is related to driving habits, in reality fatal car accidents involving men are usually due to occupational hazards.
4. Suicide and homicide
Suicide and homicide rates are higher in men than in women. In the case of suicide it is estimated that 75% more men commit suicide than women.. This figure represents the world percentage.
Although apparently psychoemotional illnesses affect more women than men, what is also true is that women are treated more frequently than men. For this reason, depression in men is more likely to end in suicide.
On the other hand, homicides are also more likely to involve men than women.. This, in turn, is due to the fact that the statistics of interpersonal violence are higher in men than in women.
In other words, situations of extreme violence are more common among men, and many of them even lead to murder, but not before having gone through fights, attacks with sharp weapons and other cases of extreme violence.
5. Poor medical care
One reason why men live shorter lives than women is due to poor medical care. And it is not that they are not provided with medical care or that it is of poor quality compared to that received by women. There are other reasons for this.
The majority of medical check-ups or first visits are requested by women. In terms of specialty consultations, the figures become more equal, however men reach this point with more complications in various diseases.
This is due to the fact that men are less likely to go to the doctor. They are more likely to relieve their symptomatic pain with over-the-counter drugs or self-medication.. This prevents them from knowing the true origin of their discomfort on many occasions.
When the pain becomes more severe or there are complications, then they do go to the doctor but sometimes they arrive too late, or the sequelae are irreversible. Although it is said that they are less resistant to pain, it is a fact that they are also more reluctant to go to the doctor.