Why is the male life expectancy going down?

Question

women are living seven years more than men do, why is it men die first? is it unlucky to be a man/

Answer 1

I'm not sure why Answergeek got so many thumbs down.  His/her answer is correct, from a scientific standpoint.  

A higher metabolism means that you will less likely to be overweight, but it also means that your cells divide and die at a faster rate.  And, the faster your cells divide and die, the more likely you are to start accumulating damage...the telomeres on the ends continue to shorten with each division, and eventually your telomeres are practically gone.  When this happens, your cells stop dividing and replacing themselves, or they divide but cause damage to the DNA strand itself.  And this is why we age and die.  

The height thing is most likely correct as well.  Within a given species, smaller bodies usually mean longer lives.  For example, some of the most long-lived breeds of dogs are the tiny ones.  The humans with the longest longevity are Asians, who are, on average, shorter than other races.  Furthermore, when have you ever seen a 6'4" elderly man who was still in good health?  Practically never...part of this is because old people shrink or stoop as they age, but the reality is, short people live longer.  Think of some people that you know who are very, very old, but still in decent health.  Most of the people that I know like this are shorter than average.  

Smaller bodies are simply easier to maintain.  The bigger the body gets, the harder to maintain it.  You can see this with extremely tall people, who have had gigantism or some other disorder.  Proportionally, they are the same as everyone else, but their bodies are simply much bigger.  Though they are proportioned the same, their bodies just can't handle being that tall for long because of how hard it is for a human to maintain such a large body.  They generally die early or end up in wheelchairs.  

There is some hope for the future, however.  The differences between men and women are getting smaller and smaller.  In primitive times, men used to be MUCH larger than women, but now our size differences aren't so great.  As we become less sexually dimorphic, our life expectancies will become more similar.  

Don't like the idea of living in a less sexually dimorphic world?  Then don't get all upset about the fact that men die a little earlier.  The fact that they are taller and have higher metabolisms means that, on average, they WILL die before women.  In the meantime, men can do the best they can to lengthen their own lifespans by making healthy choices, not taking dangerous jobs, not engaging in risky behavior, and encouraging more advancement in men's health.  But even with all of this, they will probably never naturally outlive, or live as long as, women.

Answer 2

Though medicine, is increasing people's lifespans, men's life expectancy will remain lower than women's due to higher metabolism in men, greater average height in men, and men being much, much more likely to take up dangerous jobs.

I forgot to add earlier that women have better immunity systems and other improved body functions to help deal with pregnancy and delivery.

EDIT: so, with all the thumbs-down, am I to assume you weren't serious?

Answer 3

Because to MEN.. just LIVING is not enough. We want to live WELL.

Quality over quantity. I'd rather be dead than be taking 25 pills a day and depending on others for almost everything.

Living to an old age is VERY over rated!! I'd rather be dead than be burden to my children and society.

Answer 4

It isn't going down - everyone's life expectancy is increasing in the modern world.  Women have always lived longer than men on average, and due to less women dying in childbirth, women's life expectancy has increased further.  Men could do a lot for themselves by being more health conscious - simple as :-)

ps - answergeek is incorrect that workplace fatalities account for the lower male life expectancy - there is just 0.6% difference between the sexes in deaths caused by accidents, easily outweighed by other differences between the sexes - such as women's 2% higher chance of dying from flu (7.5 compared to 5.2 for men).  The causes of death are pretty similar for both genders - cancer and heart problems (see the second link).

Answer 5

IS male life expectancy going down?   I thought medical advances were extending lifepsan for men and women alike.

Male life expectancy is different from female life expectancy due to differences in lifestyle choices.

Answer 6

Its not.  

But overall life expectancy will go down for both because of lifestyle factors- overweight and obesity will take care of the hard earned gains.

Answer 7

we just talked about this in my sociology class yesterday actually.

Women are more likely to take better care of themselves than men and more likely to go to the doctor, men tend to avoid the doctor

Also, if a man and a woman both went to the doctor, a woman would be more likely to take what the doctor has said more seriously

I am not a feminist, by any means, these are facts straight from my sociology teacher, who is a man

Answer 8

Yaw dude get a grip... Stop babbling & speak for yourself.. We know better. 's just unlucky to be you is all.....

Answer 9

Just a stab in the dark here, but the fact that the average American men eats few fruits or vegetables, gets no exercise and seldom goes to the doctor might be to blame.

Go eat a salad for lunch and take a walk, and put down the cheeseburger. You'll live longer.

Answer 10

it is?