Anshu, here are some articles which I found:
Why Women Live Longer than MenA recent UCLA study indicates that women may live longer than men because they deal with stress differently. According to the study, the body, when it is stressed, triggers a hormone called oxytocin that causes the "fight or flight" response in men. But in women, high estrogen levels may dull the hormone's effects and produce a "tend or befriend" response, an urge to cultivate social ties. And this less confrontational response may lower blood pressure, thus reducing the risk of disease.
Research by LJMU's exercise scientists may have an answer to the age old question of why women live longer than men. Their findings show that women's longevity may be linked to the fact that their hearts age differently to men's and do not lose their pumping power as they get older.
David Goldspink, LJMU's Professor of Cell and Molecular Sports Science explains: "The power of the male heart falls by 20-25% between 18 and 70 years of age. In stark contrast, there was no age-related decline in the power of the female heart."
The results are based on the findings of the largest ever study on the effects of ageing on our cardiovascular system. The good news is that men can improve the health of their heart simply by taking more regular exercise. Women too need to take regular exercise to prevent their leg muscles becoming smaller and weaker as they get older.
Why women live longer than men
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Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?
Researchers Examine Role of Risky Behavior in Life Expectancy
By Miranda Hitti
WebMD Medical NewsMay 11, 2006 -- Women generally outlive men, and researchers are exploring the reasons why.
Evolution may play a role, researchers note in the journal Human Nature. But other factors also work in women's favor, and it's possible for anyone -- male or female -- to work toward a longer, healthier life.
First, take a look at the latest snapshot of U.S. life expectancy. In 2004, the most recent year for which such statistics are available, life expectancy from birth was 77.9 years. In 2004, life expectancy for U.S. women was 5.2 years longer than men.
Women don't just outlive men in the U.S. In April, researchers in England predicted that 2006 may be the year in which women outlive men all over the world, even in the world's poorest countries.
Vying for Attention π
Here's the short version of the study, published in Human Nature: Male animals often have to compete for female attention π -- witness the male peacock's showy tail and the male moose's battle-ready antlers; vying against other suitors can be risky. π
The University of Michigan's Daniel Kruger, PhD, and Randolph Nesse, MD, wrote the paper. They argue that men are much more likely than women to engage in risky and sometimes violent behavior, ultimately raising men's death rate. π
More men than women die in car accidents, other types of accidents, homicides, and suicides, the researchers note. They add that in the U.S., the gender gap in death rates peaks in young adulthood and is mainly due to behavior.
Daredevil Appeal?
Kruger and Nesse took a big-picture look at how evolution may contribute to male-female death rates.
They don't claim that all men engage in risky behavior to impress women, or that all women look at daredevils and think, "I'd like him to father my children." They also don't dismiss women's health risks.
However, Kruger and Nesse note that men, particularly those experiencing uncertainty or deprivation, "may develop riskier life strategies, leading to higher mortality rates." Of course, many men may not act that way when facing uncertainty or harsh conditions.
The male-female gap in death rates may be a sign of male-male competition in a society, the researchers also suggest.
Safer Childbirth
"Up until very recently in human terms, life expectancy for men was greater than for women," Carol J. Hogue, PhD, MPH, tells WebMD.
Hogue is a professor of maternal and child health and of epidemiology at Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health.
"I'm not talking about elderly people and whether the next year they're going to be alive," she explains. "I'm talking about the average number of years lived for a baby born. That's life expectancy at birth." Kruger and Nesse's study tracked death rates, not life expectancy from birth.
Why did women overtake men in life expectancy? "The difference is maternal mortality," Hogue says. Maternal mortality includes women's deaths during or associated with childbirth.
Maternal mortality improved in the developed world in the early 20th century and followed suit in most of the developing world, "although there are still areas in the developing world that have very high rates of maternal mortality," Hogue says.
Risky Behavior
It's "certainly true," Hogue says, that "males are much more at risk of violent death and associated with taking risks." She says "that may be part of the explanation as to why life expectancy at birth is now better for women than men."
"The major killer in early life for women was maternal mortality, and that has been tamed considerably, whereas the major killer for men is violence and accidents, and that has not gone down as dramatically as childbirth deaths have gone down," Hogue says.
Women shouldn't take their longer life expectancy for granted. The 2004 gender gap in U.S. life expectancy was the smallest it's been since 1946. If women continue to adopt unhealthy habits like smoking, the gap may narrow further.
"Also, now that obesity is such a major player in life expectancy, I don't think we know what impact that's going to have," Hogue says. She adds that some scientists have theorized that women may have greater genetic protection against premature death.
Boosting Your Life Expectancy
Men and women can take steps toward a longer, healthier life.
"You can change your life expectancy if you start today exercising, eating right, reducing stress through one or another stress-reduction methods like meditation, avoiding risky behavior, wearing your seatbelt, not cutting people off in traffic," Hogue says.
"In other words, you have your own destiny in your own hands, up to a point," she says.
http://women.webmd.com/guide/20061201/why-women-live-longer
looks like men need to shape up big timeπ.....as QT pointed out, we women do save tremendous energy by not on the look out all the timeπ I hope the knights in shining armor fighting for aish's defence take a note of this articleππ
Have you ever thought that this could be the veri de-stressing factor while walking beside nagging wives..its sometimes a treat for the sore eyes who are forced to see only one dimension π sometimes its a hope....π.I am just guessing.. I dont know the reality...
Its like when you watch a beautiful face on TV while being stressed out.. it is so soothing...π and this is by experience...
Edited by qwertyesque - 16 years agoBefore you lay this π€’ expression on me.
π.π
Back to topic:
Have observed an natural phenonmenon that generally women live more then male spouses.
Myth says its a Myth!
Do you agree?
No!!!!!!!!!!!In India from several centuries Husband is of more age than wife.So husband dies early than wife! Earlier the age gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaap was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo large that wife used to be of the husband's first wife's daughter's age! So naturally this wife will die after looooooooooooooooooong time!
Cheers,
Myth