Hello Zakilixut,
The short answer is - men generally engage in riskier behavior
and jobs (speeding, hunting, coal miners, military service, etc.) and
are not as vigilant about their health. Men are far more likely to eat
poorly, smoke, and drink excessively. As you see below, pre-natal life
and your diet as a child affect life expectancy as well. It has been
shown that children and even grandchildren of women who smoke during
their pregnancy have a far greater chance of suffering from asthma. (I
know firsthand as well) All of this is factored in when calculating
life expectancy. Please read the entire sites I have posted for
complete information.
?How long a man lives is partially determined by his childhood
conditions and experience, according to an extensive study, which
concludes that men face higher risk of early death if they grew up in
blue-collar homes, lived in urban areas, lived with their biological
fathers and a stepmother, had a mother who worked outside the home,
whose parents were both native born and had few economic resources.?
?Other researchers have found that childhood circumstances have a
cascading effect on adult life that then result in a greater risk of
death. Everything from a child?s education or disease exposure to
parents? financial standing or birthplace can affect the later course
of life.
For instance, those early circumstances might direct a young person?s
career choice, which in turn would dictate income, lifestyle,
insurance coverage or workplace hazards, any of which might influence
health and the length of life.?
http://todaysseniorsnetwork.com/men's_life_spans.htm
?We estimate that, on average, male smokers would gain 2.3 years from
quitting smoking; males with hypertension would gain 1.1-5.3 years
from reducing their diastolic blood pressure to 88 mm Hg; men with
serum cholesterol levels exceeding 200 mg/dl would gain 0.5-4.2 years
from lowering their serum cholesterol level to 200 mg/dl; and
overweight men would gain an average of 0.7-1.7 years from achieving
ideal body weight.?
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=2013141&dopt=Abstract
?Women's life span depends on the balance of two forces, according to
Thomas Perls, a geriatrician at Harvard Medical School. One is the
evolutionary drive to pass on her genes, the other is the need to stay
healthy enough to rear as many children as possible. "Menopause draws
the line between the two," Perls says. It protects older women from
the risks of bearing children late in life, and lets them live long
enough to take care of their children and grandchildren.
As for men, Perls believes "their purpose is simply to carry genes
that ensure longevity and pass them on to their daughters. Thus,
female longevity becomes the force that determines the natural life
span of both men and women."
?The mortality gap varies during other stages of life. Between ages 15
and 24 years, men are four to five times more likely to die than
women. This time frame coincides with the onset of puberty and an
increase in reckless and violent behavior in males. Researchers refer
to it as a "testosterone storm." Most deaths in this male group come
from motor vehicle accidents, followed by homicide, suicide, cancer,
and drownings.?
?After age 24, the difference between male and female mortality
narrows until late middle age. In the 55- to 64-year-old range, more
men than women die, due mainly to heart disease, suicide, car
accidents, and illnesses related to smoking and alcohol use.?
http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/1998/10.01/WhyWomenLiveLon.html
?In Europe and North America, the gap only started to grow as economic
development and social change removed some of the major risks to
women's health. With greater control over the size of their families
and improvements in living conditions and hygiene, women's risk of
dying in childbirth decreased. At the same time, the gender division
of labour meant that men were taking on more occupational risks as
industrialisation spread to more countries. As a result, male deaths
from occupational causes have historically always been higher than
among females.?
Take Heart
?As a result, the oldest old in most parts of the world are
predominantly women. However, longer lives do not necessarily
translate into healthier lives and patterns of health and illness in
women and men show marked differences. Women's longevity makes them
more likely to suffer from the chronic diseases commonly associated
with old age. We know, for instance, that women are more likely to
suffer from osteoporosis, diabetes, hypertension, incontinence, and
arthritis than men. By reducing mobility, chronic disabling diseases
such as arthritis have an impact on the capacity to maintain social
contacts and thus on the quality of life. Men are more likely to
suffer from heart disease and stroke, but as women age, these diseases
become the major causes of death and disability for women too. The
common view that heart disease and stroke are exclusively men's
problems has obscured recognition of their significance for older
women's health and more research is necessary in this area.?
http://www.who.int/docstore/world-health-day/en/pages1999/whd99_4.html
?Men have a lower life expectancy rate than women but married men have
a higher life expectancy than single men. Men in Australia have an
average life expectancy of 78 years compared to 83 in women. Single
people are nearly twice as likely to die in any given year compared to
married people. Aboriginal men have an average life expectancy of 58
years compared to 65 years in aboriginal women. Men in Australia are 4
times as likely to commit suicide as women. Suicide rates have
decreased over the years due to increased awareness and treatment of
depression which is a crucial suicide risk factor. Infant mortality
has dropped by 50% since 1987. 28% of all Australian deaths in 2002
was due to cancer but nevertheless, cancer deaths have fallen by 10%
over the past decade. In comparison, 15% of Aboriginal deaths was due
to cancer.?
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/news/life_expectancy_varies_between_men_and_women.htm
?It's unclear why men ? statistically speaking ? are the weaker sex.
Heredity and male sex hormones may play a role, affecting such
characteristics as body fat distribution. Specifically, men are more
likely to accumulate fat around the abdomen (apple-shape obesity),
which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes,
cancer and stroke. Women, on the other hand, are more likely to put on
extra weight around the hips. This pear-shape obesity, while
unhealthy, is not linked as closely to potentially fatal conditions.
Socially sanctioned "male" behavior may also predispose men to
premature death. Men are more likely to smoke, drink, use illicit
drugs and engage in casual sex ? all of which can increase their risk
of serious diseases. They're also conditioned from an early age to
take risks and behave aggressively, which may partly explain why they
have a higher risk of dying from accidents, suicide and homicide.?
The chart on the same page shows the top causes of death in men:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mens-health/MC00013
?On average, a male Russian can expect to live only 56 years in a
reasonably good state of health! According to the scientists, these
enormous gaps in life and health expectancy are primarily caused by
the high incidence of coronary heart disease, stroke, lung cancer,
violent deaths and accidents, as well as, by alcohol related deaths.?
?The most important risk factor threatening the health of Asian men is
cigarette smoking. More than 60% of Asian men light up - compared to
8% of the women - and the numbers are still climbing in both sexes.
Nowadays, the most prevalent diseases are already the same as those
most frequently occurring in the western world, such as cardiovascular
diseases, overweight, diabetes, etc... It is to be expected, that the
highest percentage of older people anywhere in the world will be
living in Asia.?
?Sex differences occur throughout the life span from intrauterine
environment, through early development and puberty to adulthood.Their
specific expression varies at different stages of life.To continue to
advance human health, health care and medical practice, research on
and knowledge of sex differences in health and illness across the life
span are essential.?
http://www.ismh.org/wcmh/website/wcmh01.htm
?Bertrand Desjardins, a researcher in the demography department of the
University of Montreal, explains.
Men dying sooner than women makes sense biologically: because 105
males are born for every 100 females, it would assure that there are
about the same number of men and women at reproductive ages. But even
though women showed a longer life expectancy in almost every human
society in the last decade of the 20th century, the size of the
advantage varied greatly. For example, in the U.S. male life
expectancy was 73.4 years for males and 80.1 years for females, a
difference of 6.7 years, whereas in France it was 7.8 years and in the
U.K., 5.3 years. The discrepancy was much greater in some countries,
with the difference in Russia reaching more than 12 years, but in
others, such as India (0.6 year) or Bangladesh (0.1 year), it was much
less.?
?The genetic advantage of females is evident. When a mutation of one
of the genes of the X chromosome occurs, females have a second X to
compensate, whereas all genes of the unique X chromosome of males
express themselves, even if they are deleterious. More generally, the
genetic difference between the sexes is associated with a better
resistance to biological aging. Furthermore, female hormones and the
role of women in reproduction have been linked to greater longevity.
Estrogen, for example, facilitates the elimination of bad cholesterol
and thus may offer some protection against heart disease;
testosterone, on the other hand, has been linked to violence and risk
taking. Finally, the female body has to make reserves to accommodate
the needs of pregnancy and breast feeding; this ability has been
associated with a greater ability to cope with overeating and
eliminating excess food.?
?Part of the paradox can certainly be explained by the fact that this
convergence is not absolute: male smokers tend to smoke more
cigarettes than female smokers do, and men drive more recklessly than
females drivers, for instance.?
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=000D074B-6C66-112F-A89A83414B7F4945
?For example, although women now participate massively in the work
force, their roles remain different and their professional activities
are, on average, less prejudicial to their health. In addition, women
often relate to their bodies, their health and their lives in general
in a much different way than men do. To caricature, women seek beauty,
men seek strength and power; thus, a woman's body must remain young
and healthy as long as possible, whereas a man's body must be
submitted to risks and challenges from an early age. The result is
that women, much more than men, are attentive to their bodies and
their needs and often carry on deeper dialogs more easily with their
doctors. Hence, women, being more inclined to take care of their
bodies and to prolong their lives, may be better able to glean greater
profit from modern medical and social advances by practicing
activities that are healthier and better protect their bodies. In this
context, women's biological advantage now appears relatively minor in
the total mortality differences between the sexes.?
http://www.sciam.com/askexpert_question.cfm?articleID=000D074B-6C66-112F-A89A83414B7F4945&pageNumber=2&catID=3
I hope this is the answer you are seeking. If not, please request an
Answer Clarification. I will be happy to assist you further, before
you rate this answer.
Sincerely, Crabcakes
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Life expectancy + males
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