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We’ve known for a long time that women tend to live longer than men do. There are reasons for this, from biological to behavioral. Female hormones may protect many women from heart disease, for example. Women also tend to engage less often in risk-taking behavior, from extreme sports to smoking and using illicit drugs. Women also don’t die by suicide as often. That’s not to say that women don’t do these things, they just do it in fewer numbers.
In 1900, the average life expectancy in the United States was 46.3 years for men, 48.3 for women. This rose to 65.5 for men, 71.1 for women in 1950. The overall increase was due to improvements in sanitation leading to fewer communicable diseases, advances in medicine, safer workplaces and consumer items (seatbelts, playthings, etc.), access to nutritious food, and more.
…the gap between men and women continued to widen.
But it’s the gap that is surprising. There were only 2 years between men and women in 1900 but this grew to a little over 5 years by 1950. This larger gap was blamed on the increased smoking rate among men and the resulting heart disease and lung cancer.
Still, the gap between men and women continued to widen.
A cross-sectional study published earlier this month in JAMA Internal Medicine looked at mortality data obtained from the National Center for Health Statistics. What they found is concerning experts. In 2021, men had a life expectancy of 73.5. Women’s life expectancy was 79.3. This meant the gap had grown to 5.8 years.
The blame for some of the increase has been put on COVID-19 fatalities and drug overdoses among men. Researchers don’t yet understand why men died more often from COVID-19 than women, especially since the gaps weren’t the same in all states. But they do have several theories, such as men working more in occupations that had higher rates of virus exposure, and more men experiencing homelessness or being incarcerated. It also seemed that women were more likely to follow infection prevention strategies, including receiving vaccinations. Finally, men do seem to be sicker when they get COVID-19.
So, why is this study concerning?
The first author of the study, Brandon Yan, MD, was interviewed for several articles when the study came out. In one published by the University of California, San Francisco, Yan said, “While rates of death from drug overdose and homicide have climbed for both men and women, it is clear that men constitute an increasingly disproportionate share of these deaths.” He questioned if there should be more specialized care dedicated to men’s mental health.
“…it is clear that men constitute an increasingly disproportionate share of these deaths.”
In another article, one published by Stat, Yan said, “There’s a substantial socio-cultural norms component to this data as well in terms of the ways that society views masculinity and the way that men ought to behave. That has profound effects on care-seeking behaviors.”
Not the same for all Americans
Those numbers I mentioned above just relayed were overall averages. Not everyone fits in that overall average. According to Harvard Health Publishing, life expectancy fell most among people of American Indian and Alaska Native ancestry, down to 65.2 years. Look back up to what I wrote for the life expectancy for men overall in 1950. It was 65.5 years.
If we look at Black Americans, their life expectancy is shorter than for whites, 70.8 years compared to 76.4.
In the Stat article, Yan acknowledged that their study didn’t look at racial and ethnic differences. I’d be interested in seeing a follow-up on this. He also mentioned in an article from the New York Times that the study did not look at people who identified as transgender or other gender identities.
What does this tell us?
Although I am in Canada, where life expectancy is a bit higher than in the U.S. (80.6 years for men, 86.7 for women), as someone who lost a brother to suicide, I agree with Yan and the need to normalize mental healthcare for men and improve access. My brother was 35 when he died. If he had access to proper and continuous mental health support, he likely would be turning 54 next month.
Women’s healthcare still leaves a lot to be desired. Women are underrepresented in clinical trials and are often ignored or blown off when they complain of the exact same symptoms as men. But that doesn’t mean all is rosy for men, particularly in the field of mental health.
What do you think? Leave your comment below. Let’s get a conversation started.
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