Why women live longer than men?

• Do women actually live longer than men?
• Is estrogen the savior hormone?
• Can men take female hormones to prolong life?

Biology has never been fair to the sexes. The other side has always appeared to be greener. Without being inclined to any gender, I have tried to explain scientifically why women live longer than men. Here we talk only science. And if you didn’t already know, yes, women live longer than men. Science says so.

According to the latest WHO research, average life span of men in India is 69.9 and women is 72.2 years. In the Western world, the average life span is 73.7 years for men and 83.8 years for women. Females also live longer than males in many other species; for instance, in the laboratory, female rats live on average 14% longer than males. The fact that this phenomenon also occurs in animals other than humans indicates that it cannot be attributed to sociological factors but rather reflects specific biological characteristics of genders.

Before we try to understand anything else, we should understand the process of ageing. Ageing is defined as a progressive physiological change in an organism that leads to a decline of biological function and the organism’s ability to adapt to metabolic stress. There are a lot of theories behind the process of ageing. It can be explained from the cellular level to psycho-social level. So do men and women age the same way? No. Ageing differs from gender to gender, species to species. Physiological built, hormonal differences, social parameters and multiple other reasons contribute to the difference in ageing process.

Now we speak of death. To understand the difference in mortality rates, we should first know about the major cause of mortality, in both, men and women. The most important contributor to the difference in mortality between women and men is the major cause of death in men, i.e., cardiovascular diseases. One simple reason, why men are more prone to cardiovascular diseases than women is the fat deposition in the body. Men have more visceral fat deposition, which means that fat is accumulated around their internal organs, while women have more subcutaneous fat deposition, which means fat is deposited under the skin. The amount of visceral fat and the chances of developing cardiovascular diseases are directly in proportion to each other.

Most of the times, female hormones are only given accreditation to their negative contributions, like making a female very moody or skin related changes. Estrogen is not just a culprit but also a savior. Estrogen offers women some protection from heart disease until after menopause, when estrogen levels drop. This is why the average age of a heart attack is 70 in women, but 66 in men. Before menopause, a woman’s own estrogen helps protect her from heart disease by increasing HDL (good) cholesterol and decreasing LDL (bad) cholesterol.

So, if we try to link estrogen to longevity, can we actually use estrogen in men and women to prolong lives? Are estrogen supplements the key to immortality? Fortunately, or unfortunately, the answer is NO. Use of external estrogen in men leads to multiple health issues like gynecomastia, erectile dysfunction, hot flushes and sweating and weight gain to name a few. On the other hand, women already have a lot of estrogen in their bodies so it must be safe to inject the female body with some more hormone so we can live longer, right? NO. Three very common feminine cancers also called the estrogen dependent cancer—breast cancer, ovarian cancer and endometrial(uterine) cancer, will just be a knock away with unnecessary estrogen supplements. Hormonal supplements will further cause sleep disorders along with mood disturbances. Changes in bone density, weight gain and changes in sex drive are also commonly noted issues with estrogen intake in females.

Phytoestrogens, which are present in soy or wine, may have some of the favorable effects of estrogen without their undesirable effects.
The best way to have a long and healthy life, is actually to have a healthy lifestyle. Eat healthy, drink healthy and think healthy. Always remember, a healthy mind is as important as a healthy body.

-Stay Healthy
Dr. Aishwarya Nair