DO YOU KNOW THAT WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN
A recent study done where a list of verified 100 oldest people in the world were compiled between February 1985 and May 2016, it was discovered that there are 94 females and only six males on the list.
For ages women have been known to be the weaker sex, but recent studies has shown that, that its just a cliche because women have been proved scientifically to be smarter, more intelligent, make better leaders stronger emotionally and live longer than men.
The exact reasons why women live longer are elusive, but David Gems at University College London speculates that the damage may be done by the end of puberty. For speculative evidence, he points to the sad cases of mental health patients, institutionalised in the USA in the early 20th Century.
A few were forcibly castrated as part of their “treatment”. Like the Korean eunuchs, they too lived for longer than the average inmate – but only if they had been sterilised before the age of 15.
Testosterone might make our bodies stronger in the short-term, but the same changes also leave us open to heart disease, infections, and cancer later in life. “For example, testosterone might increase seminal fluid production but promote prostate cancer; or it might alter cardiovascular function in a way that improves performance early in life but leads to hypertension and atherosclerosis later,” says Gem.
Not only do women escape the risks of testosterone – they may also benefit from their own “elixir of youth” that helps heal some of the ravages of time.
The female sex hormone oestrogen is an “antioxidant”, meaning that it mops up poisonous chemicals that cause cells stress. In animal experiments, females lacking oestrogen tend not to live so long as those who have not been operated on – the exact opposite of the male eunuch’s fate.
“If you remove a rodents’ ovaries, then the cells don’t repair against molecular damage quite as well,” says Kirkwood.
According to a study by Professors Waldron Ingrid and Sebastian Johnston, they found that women tend to secrete less of the stress hormones, which would be advantageous for their longevity on the long run. They argued further that women are more likely to live longer due to their differing environment, roles and lifestyles compared with men.
They said, “Generally, males are engaged in the more stressful, physically demanding and hazardous occupations. Also, cigarette smoking, one of many factors that have distinguished the typical lifestyle and personal habits of men and women in past years, has been identified as a major contributor to the difference.
“Beyond that, women are more likely to secure earlier diagnosis and appropriate treatment for health conditions, including particularly the serious illnesses and women are less likely to be self-destructive, be it through suicide or alcoholism, they are also less likely to engage in acts of violence or to be aggressive and excessive risk takers.”
But, the founder of the New England Centenarian Study at Boston University, United States, Dr. Tom Perls, in his post on time.com said women are more likely to live longer because they usually have some delay when it comes to having some cardiovascular diseases, like heart attack and stroke. Whereas, he said men tend to develop such diseases earlier in life, like in their 50s and 60s while for the women, it could be in their 80s.
He said, “One reason for that delay in onset of cardiovascular disease could be that women are relatively iron-deficient compared to men — especially younger women, those in their late teens and early 20s — because of menstruation.
“Also, iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which glom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell.”