In general women outlive men five to 10 years—does that mean women are healthier than men?

By Deborah Graf

Why do men die ealier than their wives — or before women, period?

Gender roles or lifestyle habits? Biology or psychology? The debate about why men die before women continues. The life expectancy gender gap in the United States spans time. In the not so distant past, men worked more, smoked and drank more, and had more stress trying to be the sole supporters of their families.

Is that what has generated men’s’ earlier demise?

This is something that Dr. James Wood, associate medical director at Lifetime Care Hospice in Rochester, examines on a regular basis.

His experience as a geriatrician offers insight into why women live five or more years longer than men.

“Society has its own point of view about the reasons we have evolved the way we have,” Wood says. “But the bottom line is that men have a higher mortality rate than women.”

According to several sources, several factors play a role in mortality, including personality, environment, how and where we are raised, how we perceive ourselves, and how we preserve ourselves both physically and mentally.

On average, men may smoke and drink more than women, but they also seem to be genetically programmed for an earlier death. Testosterone, an immunosuppressant, increases in the late teens and early 20s, which contributes to risky behaviors. Cardiovascular disease becomes prevalent in men around age 60, and for women not until age 70. Women are at an advantage as menstruation can deplete them of iron, which plays a critical role in the production of oxidant materials. In other words, iron deficiency in moderation helps protect against some disease.

According to Dr. Myles Spar, a medical columnist with the website huffingtonpost.com, men have a 60 percent higher chance of developing cancer and a 40 percent higher chance of dying from cancer than women, even when you don’t include gender-specific cancers like breast and prostate cancer. Spar, who is also the medical director of the Akasha Center for Integrative Medicine in California, says that of the top 10 causes of death in the United States, men are higher in nine of them.

But it’s not just about physiology, say sources interviewed for this story. Men by nature internalize stress more than women. They deny symptoms, both physical and emotional, which contrasts to women, who don’t hesitate to go to the doctor or therapist. Men don’t take advantage of health promoting behaviors and therapies, where women by nature are more social and willing to make their personal needs a priority.

“Ask a man how he is and he will say everything’s fine, ask a woman and everything comes out,” says Ken Marshall, a pastor with Greece Assembly of God in Rochester. “A man must be encouraged to share what he is feeling and look past the sociological reasons to not share. A healthy man will cry and pour it out.”

Are women really healthier than men overall? They have more connecting relationships than men do. They will pour out their soul over a cup of tea. They love, laugh and create in all aspects of their lives, where men tend to hold themselves back in interpersonal relationships.

Does this restrict men from feeling joy, which promotes good health? They work hard to provide for their families, but when it’s all said and done they may wish they had not held themselves back from taking more time to live life. What holds them back? Personality, upbringing, and our perception make up our psychological well being which has a direct effect on our physical state.

“As a whole, a lot of it has to do with stress,” pastor Marshall says. “I think men carry the load of being a man and being the head of the home, and they don’t express it. Psychologically they are under more stress. Gals give it a good cry. Men will put up with a whole bunch of stuff until it becomes too great, when they eventually break down. The mental strain then results in physiological breakdown. I have seen it over and over and over again.”

“Men feel hopeless and call it a day. Women tend to reach out and try to cope with mental health,” says Wood.

But on the flipside, Wood says that when it comes to any life threatening illness there is not a big difference in coping mechanisms at the end of life. Men actually open up and become reflective. They realize that their more gender-specific habits like fast driving and risk taking, less healthy diets, exposure to industrial pollutants in the workplace, more hazardous occupations, and lower rates of self-care, all contributed to their overall well-being and life expectancy.

So how do women cope with the loss of their spouse or loved one leaving them too soon?

Jenna Black of Irondequoit thinks it’s about one’s personality. “When a spouse loses their partner, there needs to be a determination to continue living. You must have a good attitude, live today and don’t worry about tomorrow.”

Black says you have to figure out who you are as a woman when you are no longer a wife or partner.

According to the U.S. Census bureau, half of women over age 65 are widows. Nearly 700,000 women lose their husbands each year. Women are marrying later and are remarrying less. Many more women are now working outside the home to help support their families and because they want to. As they establish themselves in new roles, they are not accepting the same lifestyle that men do. Women choose quality of life vs. men, who in traditional roles, allow their entire lives to become their career.

Wood says there’s hope for statistics to change. “The gender gap is narrowing. Men are gaining more quickly in lifespan,” he says. “Men are using less tobacco, less alcohol, are getting more exercise and are learning to better deal with their emotions.”