They live longer, but in worse condition. Men have a higher risk of premature death

Gender shapes health and being a man or a woman, combined with other issues such as socioeconomic status, dictates substantial differences in health, the risk of prevalence of certain diseases and different life expectancy. A study released this Thursday shows that women live longer than men, but that they are affected by diseases that lead to premature death, while they live in a worse condition for longer.

The research, published in medical publication The Lancet Public Health, drew on 2021 global data to compare the number of years of life lost – due to illness and premature death – for 20 of the leading causes of disease in men and women with more than 10 years.

The analysis estimates that the burden for 13 of these 20 main causes of illness, including Covid-19, road injuries and cardiovascular and respiratory problems, was higher in men than in women in 2021.

In men, the loss of health is reflected mainly in pathologies that lead more to premature death, such as lung cancer, heart problems and chronic kidney disease, according to the study.

In contrast, women, who tend to live longer, are affected by illnesses or disabilities that last throughout their lives, such as low back pain, headaches, depression, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias.

In the world, the life expectancy of women at birth is 74 years, while that of men is 69. In Portugal, the same indicator is 81 years.

The analysis carried out excludes sex-specific health problems, such as prostate cancer and gynecological diseases, but evaluates the differences between men and women affected by the same pathologies.

According to the authors of the work, differences between men and women on a global scale in terms of health have been consistent since 1990, except for some diseases such as diabetes, whose difference has almost tripled, affecting men more than women.

“The challenge now is to design, apply and evaluate ways to prevent and treat the main causes of morbidity and premature mortality, based on sex and gender, from an early age and in different populations”, said, quoted in a statement, one of the study authors, Brazilian epidemiologist Luísa Sorio Flor, from the Institute of Health Metrics and Assessment at the University of Washington, United States.