Why do men die shorter than women?

Researchers have released a survey report on male life expectancy, which says that men are not as strong as we think. Due to pressure from all sides, male life expectancy is still decreasing, and male health is facing unprecedented threats. This latest survey did not give the difference in life expectancy between men and women, but only said that the mortality rate of young men is three times higher than that of women. According to survey statistics from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Population Organization for many years, men's life expectancy is 5 to 10 years shorter than that of women on average, and in some countries, this difference is increasing year by year.

For example, in my country, men lived one year less than women in the 1970s, two years less in the 1980s, four years less in the 1990s, and five years less in the 21st century. In the United States, general statistics show that men live seven years less than women, and in Russia, men live ten years less than women.

Why do men have shorter life spans than women? This has been a topic and fact that has remained unchanged since the evolution of mankind. There is a saying that goes like this: Men don't shed tears easily, men don't like to talk, men don't go to see a doctor when they are sick, and men don't want to go home. In fact, these conclusions are far from enough, because the factors that cause men to have shorter life spans than women also include other characteristics of men, physiological characteristics and social pressure. For example, men have a high basic metabolism, love to show off, have a bad lifestyle, are competitive, love adventure, have a bad temper, and are alcoholics.

1. Eating too much will shorten your life

There are some physiological differences between the sexes. The basic metabolism of men is 5%-7% higher than that of women, that is, the energy consumption is higher than that of women. As early as the 1930s, Clyde McCarty, a nutritionist at Cornell University in the United States, conducted an experiment with mice. One group of mice was not provided with sufficient food, and only the nutrients necessary for their survival were guaranteed. The other group of mice was provided with sufficient food and allowed to eat freely, as much as they could eat. The results showed that the bones of the mice in the free-feeding group stopped growing after 175 days, while the bones of the mice in the restricted-feeding group were still growing slowly after 500 days. The average lifespan of the mice in the free-feeding group was only 2.5 years, while the lifespan of the mice in the restricted-feeding group was 3-4 years. Researchers believe that eating less will produce fewer damaging free radicals, which will reduce damage to human DNA and cells, and thus slow down aging. This may explain why men who eat more always live shorter lives than women who eat less.

2. Not wearing sunscreen can also shorten your life

Compared with women, men's lifestyle is neither scientific nor healthy. For example, men like to smoke and drink, and cigarettes and alcohol are the most vicious killers of human life and health in modern society, and the damage to men is far greater than that to women. Russian men have a much lower life expectancy than women, and vodka plays an important role. In addition, men's eating habits are often to wolf down or often overeat, so the incidence of stomach problems in men is 6.2 times higher than that of women on average. Moreover, men generally eat more fat and protein foods than women. Studies have shown that eating too much fat and protein is an important cause of colorectal cancer. At the same time, quite a number of men do not pay attention to sun protection and do not pay attention to skin cancer examinations, so men are twice as likely to die from melanoma as women.

3. Men are too aggressive

The male hormone in men's blood is an important reason for their irritability, aggressiveness, and competitiveness. In wartime, there were more men on the battlefield, so it is easy to understand why more men died young, because war took away a large number of men's lives. However, in modern peacetime, men's competitive character is also an important inducement for their deaths, so their life span is shorter than that of women. For example, due to competitiveness and drunk driving, the probability of men dying in car accidents is twice that of women.

Surveys show that 70% of the casualties on highways are caused by male drivers, and 60% of the traffic accidents in cities are caused by male drivers. Traffic accident statistics in Spain show that the ratio of male and female drivers involved in traffic accidents is 60% to 40%. Statistics from other EU countries and the United States show that the rate of traffic accidents involving male drivers is higher, about 70%, while female drivers only account for about 30%. The reason is that the male hormones in men's bodies are at work, which often stimulate men to show off their abilities. While overtaking, they also get a kind of psychological satisfaction: Look, my driving skills are so superb, and the other party is just a fool, with poor skills, but still insists on occupying the road. The result of this is often that while overtaking, they collide with the normal driving vehicle in front, resulting in the destruction of the vehicle and the death of people. In this regard, women are just the opposite, and it is almost impossible for them to get into an accident. The direct victims of car accidents are drivers, so there are far more male premature deaths than female premature deaths.

4. Menstruation exercises women’s tolerance

Compared with men, women love to cry, but men who shed tears easily are considered weak, unmanly, and unsturdy, so men dare not shed tears, which has a huge impact on their health and life span. Crying can not only relieve stress and ease emotions, but also help to discharge toxic substances from tears physiologically. The result of men not shed tears is of course that their health condition will deteriorate, which will have negative effects over time.

In addition, women's special physiological phenomena also determine that women have high tolerance and strong survival ability. For example, women's menstruation once a month has trained women's tolerance, especially their ability to survive in disasters. Under the conditions of not eating or drinking and losing the same amount of blood, men may die a few days or even earlier than women, while women are more likely to persist until the arrival of rescuers, thus successfully surviving the disaster.

5. Your attitude determines your lifespan

The biggest reason why men don't want to return home after they have a family is that society requires men to be self-reliant. In order to be successful and to support their families, men must work and contribute overtime, and whether in the workplace or at home, men are required to keep up appearances. Therefore, men work more stressfully than women and have to bear greater pressure than women. As a result, the proportion of men suffering from myocardial infarction and being hospitalized is 7-10 times that of women.

Finally, men's attitude towards their health and body affects their lifespan. A survey shows that 82% of men will regularly maintain their cars, but only 50% of men will have regular physical examinations. This results in men not noticing minor illnesses, suffering from medium illnesses, and dying suddenly from major illnesses. If men can detect abnormalities in their bodies in time and seek timely diagnosis and treatment, the incidence and mortality rates can be greatly reduced.

Although it is an indisputable fact that men have a shorter life span than women, as long as men today follow the four principles of healthy living, they may live longer and even outlive women. These four principles are a healthy diet, moderate exercise, smoking cessation and alcohol restriction, and psychological balance.