DUBAI // Stress, smoking and testosterone were blamed as reasons why men live shorter lives than women as the age-old debate of gender specifics opened at a public health forum during the Arab Health Congress.
Citing the World Factbook of the American Central Intelligence Agency, health experts said women the world over generally lived significantly longer than men.
Although nature plays its part, with fixed biological factors determining life expectancy in both sexes, Dr Wasif Alam, director of public health and safety at Dubai Health Authority, said lifestyle choices are also significant.
“There are some unfixed factors that can affect life expectancy, such as quality of housing, environment, education and job,” he said.
“Isolation and social relationships also play a part but women have a biological advantage over men.
“Men have testosterone, making them more aggressive. They want to drive fast, be competitive and take more risks.
“They die from those risks but testosterone can also encourage bad cholesterol that cause blood clots and blockages.
“In women, bad cholesterol is generally lower, so they have less heart disease. Men with high testosterone are also more prone to prostate cancer.”
The Tobacco Atlas, showing prevalence of smoking in Asia and Africa, showed more men smoke than women in every country.
The largest disparities were in Indonesia, where 57 per cent of men smoke, compared to just 4 per cent of women, and in China, where 45 per cent of men smoke compared with just 2 per cent of women.
In the UAE, the atlas showed 18 per cent of men and 3 per cent of women smoke.
Issues such as job security and unemployment are also more likely to affect men’s health.
Studies in older women have shown women who give birth later in life, into their 40s, generally live longer.
Thymus cells, white blood cells essential for human immunity, also deplete faster in men than women, making them more prone to cancer and other chronic disease.
Men are also more likely to skip health checks and less likely to socialise with their peers, so are more prone to mental health issues, with motherhood making women naturally better at dealing with stress, Dr Alam said.
“Physically, men may be stronger but women are the more durable sex,” he said.
nwebster@thenational.ae
