Can you prove anything you want by statistics? You bet. But here’s one case where there’s no need to manipulate figures to prove a point. It’s a straight, simple, indisputable fact that women live 5.4 years longer than men. So was the Almighty just unkind to men or is this problem the result of their own stupidity?
Male vulnerability starts early. The pregnancy of a male fetus is more likely to end in miscarriage or stillbirth. Even as infants, the mortality rate of premature boys is higher. They have a higher rate of developmental disabilities and autism, and are more likely to be born colour blind.
Males also die more often than women from almost all of the leading killers, coronary attack, cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease, diabetes, Aids, liver disease, pneumonia, influenza, and kidney problems. As teenagers they’re 11 X more likely to drown. Later on men are 3 X more likely to be murdered and 4X more likely to commit suicide. All this is enough to drive men to drink.
Women’s health issues also get more national attention. For instance, the number of new cases of prostate cancer is nearly the same as breast cancer. Yet in 2005 the U.S. government spent 394 million on prostate research and 710 million on breast cancer. There are also more headlines about breast cancer compared to that of the lowly prostate. Even as I write this column there’s a huge walkathon for breast cancer in Toronto.
But aren’t women supposed to be the weaker sex? Not according to Dr. Robert Tan, a geriatrics specialist in Houston, Texas. He says, “It’s not that we could be the weaker sex, we are the weaker sex!” Even when women and men have the same diseases men are more likely to die. The best example, men are less likely to recover from hip fractures than women.
But you can also argue that men are just crying in their beer. It’s easy for them to blame genetics, government and the media for their earlier demise. The blunt fact is men are largely the architects of their own misfortune. And if they would get smarter it would be easy to increase their longevity.
To do so men must take the step they’re so reluctant to do, see their doctor for regular checkups. Today, prevention is the name of the game when diagnosing problems before they gain a foothold and end your life.
A regular examination will detect early hypertension and onset of diabetes, both major killers if left undiagnosed. Men could also literally wipe out colon cancer deaths if they submitted to colonoscopy screening. And studies indicate that the PSA test for prostate cancer has steadily reduced the number of men dying from this disease. But they have to get it done!
Male behaviour plays a role in decreased longevity. It would help if they consumed less alcohol and tobacco, increased their use of seat belts and sunscreen. And if they were less aggressive, fewer would die from car accidents. Equally important, they have to get their macho brain in the right gear.
Dr. Will Courtney, a psychiatrist at The Harvard Medical School, reports that men tend to assume they’re physically indestructible. Their heroes, like John Wayne, can survive bullets in movies. But Wayne succumbed to lung cancer, at least partly caused by his smoking. Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond, died from complications of a chest cold after ignoring his doctor’s advice. Bluntly, men have to accept the fact that in real life no one is bulletproof.
Nor is the male brain bulletproof. Today, too many men won’t acknowledge they’re depressed and they refuse to seek help. They’ve been trained from early childhood to tough it out. And, all too often, this ends in needless suicide.
This aversion to asking for help is not easy to overcome. But men could take a lesson from New York City firefighters. Since the collapse of the World Trade Center they have not tried to hide their emotions and have frequently sought help from counsellors.
Shakespeare had the right message for men on how to improve their longevity. He penned, “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves”.
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