There is something that many doctors and professionals ignored for a long time that can not be ignored any longer. Different genders experience different health factors and risks associated with their bodies. The biggest thing about the male and female health differences is understanding that sex is based off several biological factors such as reproductive organs, sex hormones and chromosomes. While at the same time gender differences include behavior lifestyle, and life experiences. Throughout medicine, for example cardiovascular diseases, men and women will face different risks and outcomes. Women will have more consequences related to a-fib and have more strokes than men. Other examples include iron deficiencies affecting women more than men, women with chronic kidney disease, autoimmune disease, fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s all occur or are reported more in women than men. On the other hand, men are more diagnosed with Parkinson’s, skin cancer, ALS, HIV, Autism, and men have an extraordinary higher rate of suicide.
Many factors can affect the differences we see in women and men health. Take how society views gender roles. Men should mow the lawn, right? What about work in the fields under the sun? There may be a reason to why men have higher cases of skin cancer. Men also do dumb acts to prove their masculinity and will purposefully do high risk activities in hopes of achieving the adrenaline rush or approval from somebody. Meanwhile how society views women, how women should achieve the perfect model body, is probably one the highest reason for women having a greater depression rate than men. On the research end of studies, it is probably understood that women are probably more diagnosed since women will book more regular checkups for themselves and children while men are either “too tough” for the doctors or more likely too afraid of hurting their ego or self-esteem.
One of the final things to look at is the life expectancy of men and women. Women will on average outlive men by five years. Reasons to the life expectancy gap is because of men have a higher death rate for the leading causes of death like cardiovascular disease and cancer. This could be due to the more toxic occupations that men tend to be found in. Jobs that are more dangerous are understood by society as more masculine jobs in society which would attribute to the higher injury/death rates associated. However, in honesty it could be a male taking an unnecessary risk which, as mentioned before, is a huge factor into the injury/death rate of men. Other leading factors of health risk are those outside factors that we as humans could control. Alcohol, tobacco, and unhealthy weight are all higher in men than women and all of these can be controlled and depends on the person. Men using common sense, self-discipline, and seeing a doctor more often would probably close the health gap even more than the five years its at.
Help Received: Notes from class, in class PowerPoint