Why men live shorter lives

Each year, the world health organization (WHO), explores how the well-being of humanity. This year, the statistics deal with the question of how the different life expectancy of men and women.

“It is important to note that, although the World Health Statistics in 2019 to tell your stories in Numbers – the consequences of real people can relate to,” writes the WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in his Foreword.

Six Findings:

1. Significantly more boys are born than girls but the ratio of turns in the course of life.

This year, more than 141 million babies around the world on the world, estimates the WHO. At birth, there is still a significant men-Overhang: 73 million, the newborn will be boy, only 68 million girls. To 100 girls around 107 boys to come.

Since men die earlier than women, this is in the course of life. In the age group of 50 – to 54-Year-old has compensated for the difference in 2016. In the 60 – to 64-Year-old the women were already in the Majority, here the researchers were only 95 men for every 100 women. This development continues in the higher age groups rapidly:

2. Women not only live longer they also remain healthy for longer.

The life expectancy of people is on the rise worldwide. Today is born the young are, on average, almost 70 years old, girls 74 years. That is about five years longer than in 2000. Between the two sexes, a difference of more than four years-remains, however.

The years people spend free from disease, is increasing. Therefore, today born babies can look forward on average to 63.3 years of healthy life. However, there are also gender differences: In women, the number of healthy life years 64.8 years for men only of 62.0 years.

3. There are many reasons why men die earlier.

The shorter life expectancy of men has many causes, the researchers write. Of the 40 most frequent causes of death in the 33 have a larger impact on the life expectancy of men. The biggest differences are:

  • Ischemic heart disease (cost to men of 0.84 years of life more than women),
  • Road traffic accidents (cost, men 0,47 years of life more than women),
  • Lung cancer (men and 0.4 years of life more than women), and
  • Chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) (cost-men of 0.36 years more than women).

Some of the differences genetically explain. Thus, chromosome-associated processes, for example, with the X-girls have a stronger immune system and your child is more likely to survive. In 2017, the risk of young men dying before the fifth birthday was eleven percent higher than that of the girls.

Other causes in turn are related to gender roles. Since men are more likely to work in the transport sector, they are also more likely to be victims of accidents. The risk for men to die in a traffic accident, from 15. Age is more than twice as high as that of women.

4. The differences are pronounced in rich countries is much stronger than in the arms.

The poorer a Region is, the smaller the differences in life expectancy between men and women. This is mainly due to hazards in and around the pregnancy. In more than 90 percent of the countries with a low income is less than four midwives for 1000 women in charge. The Consequences:

  • In countries with a low income is one of 41 women dies in connection with pregnancy or childbirth.
  • In countries with a high income a is affected by 3300 women.

Moreover, in poor countries more people die from infectious diseases, the men and women alike.

In rich countries, however, the differences in life expectancy can to a greater extent by environmental factors and an unhealthy lifestyle to explain. So is drinking in countries with a high income in a global comparison of the most alcohol and the most smoked. Men have a large share: according to The Report, they smoked in 2016, five times more often than women and consumed four times more alcohol.

“Better access for men to health care, for example in the treatment of hypertension, could increase the survival rates,” write the researchers. The biggest potential but Changes in life style in terms of tobacco, alcohol and an unhealthy diet, as well as a better protection against traffic accidents.

5. Suicides and murders are an American and European Problem.

The world saw happen in relation to the population size, the majority of murders in the American WHO Region in addition to North – and Central South America. In the WHO European Region, which Russia, too, involves, is, however, the suicide Rate in the worldwide comparison, the highest.

Even with these two factors, gender differences exist, as the researchers write: The global data, is the risk that a man may take life, 75 percent higher than for a woman. Also, men die four times more often by suicide than women.

Apart from that women also experience the world a lot of violence: in 2013, 35 percent of the women reported to have at the age of 15 to 49 physical, or sexual violence.

6. Last: men can take care of later diseases than women.

Men and women suffer from the same diseases, get men in General, later help. In the case of infectious diseases such as HIV and tuberculosis, for instance, men often receive a delayed diagnosis and treatment. This meant that you developed with your weakened body is more frequently a result of diseases and more likely to die of Aids, the researchers write.

“Strategies to improve the access of men to health, could not improve, therefore, only gender differences but also the basic spread of diseases in society decrease,” – said in the report.