Why are men dying out

Yana Khlyustova, "Newspaper.Ru"Over the past hundred years, men have begun to die much earlier than women, scientists have found.

It turns out that the gap between the life expectancy of men and women has not always existed: it was formed only in the twentieth century, and the main causes of premature death of men are smoking and cardiovascular diseases. 

It's no secret that men currently live less than women on average: according to data provided by the World Health Organization in 2015, women's life expectancy exceeds the "male" indicator in all but three countries of the world. In the Republic of Niger and the Republic of Mali, men and women live the same (59 and 57 years, respectively), and in the Kingdom of Tonga, men, according to statistics, outlive women by 5 years: their life expectancy is 74 years, and women – 69 years.

In Russia, this gap is very large: at the moment it is about 12 years. However, data on life expectancy in our country vary: if, according to WHO data, it is 63 years for men and 75 years for women, then the head of the Ministry of Health Veronika Skvortsova said in October last year that Russian women crossed the threshold of 77 years, and men - 65. The average life expectancy in our country, according to the minister, at the moment is not 69 years, but just over 71 years. 

These data are partially confirmed by the fact that last fall Russia was included for the first time in the list of the annual rating of the effectiveness of national health systems published by Bloomberg, and only those countries with an average life expectancy of more than 70 years are included there. However, Russia took the last place in this ranking, which includes 51 countries of the world. 

Scientists explain the reason for the gap between the average life expectancy of men and women in different ways. Most often, such factors as the propensity of men to bad habits (smoking and alcohol abuse), as well as biological prerequisites are mentioned (women play a much more important role in procreation and maintaining the population: one man is enough to give birth to numerous offspring).

Nevertheless, a group of researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research under the leadership of Giram Beltran-Sanchez found out: in fact, a significant gap between the average life expectancy of men and women was formed not so long ago, namely, in the late XIX–early XX centuries. Until that time, men and women died almost at the same age. The scientists' study was published in the journal PNAS (Twentieth century surge of excess adult male mortality). 

The researchers analyzed data on people born in the period from 1800 to 1935 in 13 countries: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Great Britain (England and Wales), France, Italy, Holland, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the USA. During the work, scientists excluded information about men who died as a result of military operations.

The results of the analysis of data on the number of births and deaths of people of both sexes made it possible to find out that a significant gap between the life expectancy of men and women arose after 1880: it was at this time that it doubled in comparison with the previously existing indicator. The difference is most pronounced during the period when people are aged 50-70 years, but after reaching the age of 80, men and women die with approximately the same frequency. 

In addition to studying birth and mortality rates, experts from the Institute of Demographic Research also paid attention to the causes that most often caused the death of men after 40 years. It turned out that the main "killer" of the male population of the developed countries of the world is smoking and the diseases provoked by it, and the second place is occupied by diseases of the cardiovascular system.

Smoking was responsible for the death of 30% of men who died at the age of 50-70 years and were born from 1900 to 1935. It was followed by diseases of the cardiovascular system: it turned out that heart attacks and strokes increased the gap in life expectancy between men and women by 40%. Scientists explain the high susceptibility of the stronger sex to cardiovascular diseases by their physiological characteristics: the body of men contains several times less of the hormone estrogen, which regulates cholesterol levels and prevents blockage of blood vessels. In addition, male endothelial cells – the substance lining the surface of blood vessels from the inside – have less flexibility, as a result of which the vessels of men are not as elastic as women's, and respond worse to changes in blood pressure. 

Despite the fact that the findings presented by scientists describe the demographic situation in European countries, according to Evgeny Andreev, a leading researcher at the Russian School of Economics and a member of the European Association for Population Studies, the same trend was observed in Russia. 

Until the end of the XIX century, there was no significant difference in life expectancy between men and women, but at the end of the 20s of the twentieth century, it had already formed and amounted to about five years. 

The authors of the study claim that another reason affecting the increased mortality of men is the lifestyle that has changed over the past hundred years: sedentary work, eating too much fatty and sweet food, poor ecology (so in the text – VM :) all this cannot but have a disastrous effect on our health. That is why changing the diet and lifestyle can help both men and women to increase their life expectancy.Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru

07.07.2015