A new study reveals that heart disease is the biggest culprit behind why men have higher death rates versus women during the 20th century.
Across the world, women can expect to live longer than men. Why does this occur and was this always the case?
The difference in life expectancy between the sexes first emerged during the turn of the 20th century, according to a new study led by University of California Davis researchers in the School of Gerontology.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Heart disease is the most likely culprit behind higher death rates for men versus women, said USC gerontologist Eileen Crimmins.
Researchers found that significant differences in life expectancies between the sexes first emerged as recently as the turn of the 20th century. As medical advances and positive health behaviors were adopted during the 1800s and early 1900s, death rates fell, but women were reaping longevity benefits at a much faster rate.
The study examined the life spans of people born between 1800 and 1935 in 13 developed nations. A review of global data points to heart disease as the culprit behind most of the excess deaths documented in adult men, said researchers.
Focusing on mortality in adults over the age of 40, the USC team found that in individuals born after 1880, women’s death rates decreased 70 percent faster than those of men. Even when the researchers controlled for smoking, cardiovascular disease appeared to still be the cause of the vast majority of excess deaths in adult men over 40 for the same time period.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average life expectancy is 78.8 years in the U.S. Life expectancy was calculated to be 81.2 years for women and 76.4 for men, according to 2012 data. Life expectancy for women has consistently been higher than that for men.
Heart disease claims the lives of about 610,000 people in the U.S — 1 in every 4 deaths — according to the CDC. Cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) account for nearly half (47%) of all deaths in Europe, according the European Society of Cardiology.
Across the European Union, life expectancy averaged to be 75.3 years for men and 81.7 years for women, with French women (85.0 years) and Swedish men (79.4 years) having the longest life spans, according to OECD data.
Why do more men die from heart disease than women?
Medical experts have noted that women typically develop heart disease 10 years later than men, and research continues to unearth the reasons. Heart disease is still the number one killer of women, but they have decade-long reprieve from the disease.
Men are more likely than women to have sudden cardiac events. The CDC reports that between 70 percent and 89 percent of these events occur in men. Half the men who die suddenly of coronary heart disease had no prior symptoms.
The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and was supported by the National Institute on Aging.
