Why do women live longer than men?

Women experience men through something long: in the United States, Women have the expected life expectancy About 80, compared to about 75 for men.

This is true, regardless of where women live, how much they earn and many other factors. It is even Truth for most other mammals.

“This is a very solid phenomenon around the world, completely preserved in the disease, during hunger, during an epidemic, even during hunger,” said Dr. Den Dubal, a professor of neurology at the University of California in San Francisco.

But the reasons why women live longer are complicated and less determined – and the fact that they experience men does not necessarily mean that they live better. Women tend to be shorter Stretching of health (The number of hearty years lives) than men, said Bérénice Benayoun, associate professor at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. Women are generally more physically fragile than men in venerable age; They are also more vulnerable, especially after menopause, to develop cardiovascular problems and Alzheimer’s diseasePartly because age itself is a risk factor for these conditions, said Dr. Benayoun.

Scientists try to discover the reasons why men and women age differently in the hope of extending the period of life and health for both.

“If we understand what makes one sex more resistant or sensitive, we have up-to-date paths, a up-to-date molecular understanding, for up-to-date therapeutic ones, which can aid one or both sexes also be resistant,” said Dr. Dubal.

Here’s what they know so far about what causes a gap of longevity.

Genetics

AND A growing part of the research He suggests that the 20th set of female sex chromosomes (which together with other chromosomes wear our DNA) can affect longevity, although it is not clear how. For example, Research from 2018 Run by the laboratory of Dr. Dubal He looked at the genetically manipulated mice with various combinations of sex chromosomes and reproductive organs. People with two X chromosomes and ovaries lived the longest, followed by mice with two X chromosomes and testicles. Mice with XY chromosomes had shorter periods of life.

“There was something in the second X chromosome, which protected mice from death earlier in life, even if they had testicles,” said Dr. Dubal. “What if there was something on the second X chromosome, which in a sense was the sprinkles of the youth fountain?”

Scientists have not yet examined this in humans, but Dr. Dubal said that we have the same hormones and sex chromosomes and similar reproductive systems, suggest that discoveries may be similar in humans.

Epigenetic factors – environmental elements or lifestyle, such as climate or chronic stress, which is expressed by genes and how – they can also play a role during life, broadening or reducing the differences between men and women, said Montserrat Anguer, an associate professor of biomedical sciences of the University Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, which is studying this topic.

Hormones

Scientists also study the role of sex hormones, such as estrogen in longevity, And they are particularly interested in the influence they have on the immune system. “There are decent data showing that at least before menopause, the female immune system is usually better, more on it and it can be better assembled,” said Dr. Benayoun. In general, men “tend to be much worse in response to the infection”, which in turn could shorten their lives; She said it was more likely that women die of sepsis.

One analysis from 2017 He stated that women who experienced menopause in later life – over the age of 50 – lived longer than those who experienced it earlier. When estrogen levels fall, for example during menopause, women’s immune systems seem to weaken. Dr. Benayoun said that women tend to make up for (or surpass) men in developing diseases that were less common before menopause.

Lifestyle and behavior

Behavioral patterns play a key role in discrepancies. Kyle Boussa, a psychologist and senior member of Study of Stuars Aging and Humer Development at the Duke University University said that women are usually less inclined than men – behaviors that significantly contribute to mortality.

Dr. Boussa also said that women practice more “health behaviors”, such as wearing seat belts or going to the doctor for annual controls. In addition, he said that women would be social than men more often than men, protecting them from harmful effects of social insulation and loneliness. Analysis 2023 discovered that they are It will also die less often by overdose of drugs or suicide.

External factors

At a broader social level, problems such as war violence or weapons disproportionately affect men, said Naoko Muramatsu, a professor of community health sciences at the University of Illinois Chicago.

During the Covid pandemic, men died at a higher pace than women. Studies have shown this They were more likely To perform work that exposed them to a virus, such as the preparation or construction of food, or be homeless or imprisoned, all of which influenced mortality.

Ultimately, it is a combination of all those factors that determine the life gap, said Alan Cohen, associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. “There are probably a thousand ways.”

And although we have control over some factors, such as drinking, smoking and diet, it is not yet clear how significantly it would change these behaviors, said Dr. Boussa.

“We need randomized control tests to make these things bother,” he said.