The life expectancy in Australia of an average baby boy born in 2016 is anticipated to live to 80 while an average baby girl born in the same year could live until 85. Such a gap in life expectancy between men and women is also manifest around the globe.
Considering the present understanding of why people die, factors such as biological and behavioural could explain to a certain degree why women tend to live longer than men.
Moreover, there are scientific advancements that influence the health of men and women differently.
Biological Conditions and Matter of Behaviour
One of the issues concerning the gap between the life expectancy of men and women is the morbidity-mortality paradox. Women may enjoy a longer life than that of men but they are more prone to illness, doctor consultations and hospital visits.
Among the explanations offered in relation to the said issue is that women endure illnesses that are less likely to kill them. Typical examples of chronic non-fatal illnesses that are common in women are the following: asthma, arthritis, and migraines. Although these conditions can be the reason for poorer health, it should be noted that it does not increase the mortality risk of women.
On the other hand, men are more vulnerable to health conditions that can increase their mortality risk. For instance, over a long period of time, men tend to develop larger amounts of visceral fat and women tend to develop subcutaneous fat. Visceral fat is one of the major risk factors for coronary heart disease. In Australia, coronary heart disease is the leading underlying cause of death of men.
In 2016, coronary heart disease caused 10,870 deaths for men while 8,207 for women. This clearly surpasses the rates of death caused by dementia and Alzheimers with 4,679 and 8,447 respectively for men and women; Cerebro-vascular disease with 4, 239 and 6,212; Lung cancer with 5,023 and 3,387 and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disorder with 3,903 and 3,309 respectively.
Referring to the figures above, coronary heart disease is clearly the major reason for the difference in mortality between men and women.
There are also biological factors that may explain why men age faster than women. One of which is testosterone. Testosterone levels of men are responsible for larger bodies and deeper voices. Sequentially, this may speed up the age-related changes in men’s bodies than that of women.
On the other hand, women enjoy an advantage due to the protective elements associated with estrogen. For example, women in the pre-menopausal period are less likely to acquire coronary heart disease three times lower than that of men. This clearly indicates that estrogens may have a protective effect in women.
Various behaviors that lead to earlier death are more typical in men. One of the major examples would be accidental deaths caused by assault, drownings, falls, poisoning and transport accidents are high, especially among young men aged between 15-24.
Men are more prone to acquire lifestyle habits that may be detrimental to their mortality risk. Habits such as smoking, poor eating and avoiding exercises can be considered as risk factors for fatal chronic illnesses, including stroke and type 2 diabetes and are also risk factors for dementia.
Advancements in Science and Public
Numerous scientific advancements leading to better clinical practice as well as adjustments in government health policies that benefit the lives of women.
For instance, new methods in birth control allowed for better decision-making and control over family size and timing. This led to fewer pregnancies that may result in risky births. It also improved general physical and mental well being for women. Moreover, it also resulted in fewer deaths of women during childbirth.
Different public health programs such as screening for breast cancer and vaccines preventing cervical cancers generally improved life expectancy of women over time and this is also reflected in 130 countries worldwide.
However, this is not to deny that men also benefit from public health policies. One of which is screening for bowel cancer.
Given these insights, we cannot still come up to a single unifying conclusion to answer why women continue to live longer than men.
Bridging The Gap
Even though the difference between the life expectancy of men and women is explicitly provided above, it should be noted that this gap decreases the longer they live. For example, in 2016, at birth, the gap was 4.2 years with male anticipated to live 80 years on average. However, as men get older, the gap continues to decrease with 2.7 years at age 65, 1 year at age 65 and just .3 years at age 95.
This clearly entails that men that enjoy longer life have been able to evade certain health risks, which in return could give them the greater prospect of living a longer life.
Fundamentally, death is detached from our control. However, taking into regard different factors that can affect our health. Maintaining a proper diet, active living and avoiding smoking may reduce the risk of dying earlier due to chronic disease.
Even though women may always live longer than men, men may make some changes in their habits and lifestyle to lessen at some extent the gap. Similarly, women should also observe similar things for a longer and healthier life as well.
