Women Live Longer Than Men Based on the Leading Cause of Death Worldwide

The reason isn’t funny, the advantage for women is not lifelong, and there is something men can do to avoid an early demise.

Hear me out because I also laughed in despair before researching this demoralising fact that gave me a short burst of existential crisis after one lunar month.

If a new wisdom enlightens you, it’s a good quality to share your knowledge with the world, or at least with the people who are a few steps behind you.

I’m uncovering the reason behind many mysteries about fitness on my path to becoming a health coach, and it feels illegal to keep the knowledge to myself.

One of the facts I recently discovered is why women live longer than men based on the leading cause of death worldwide.

If you Google it or even guess by common sense based on what the mainstream media shows us, the leading cause of death worldwide is, you’re right, heart disease!

Now, suppose two people have the same demographic, lifestyle, stress levels, responsibilities and the nature of the job. In that case, the male candidate is at a higher risk of dying from a cardiovascular-related disease than the female one.

It’s because of the significant hormone that decides how well we are naturally equipped to protect our heart health.

The deciding hormones.

Men generate testosterone in abundance.

Women produce estrogen in high amounts.

These hormones play a significant role in developing gender-specific traits like pubic hair, voice tonality and reproductive organs.

Both hormones have their feature and drawbacks. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be easy to differentiate them.

While testosterone helps put on muscle easily, estrogen helps in preventing heart diseases.

“…estrogen helps protect against heart attack by preventing inflammation that contributes to the buildup of plaque in coronary arteries.” — Dr DeLisa Fairweather, a Mayo Clinic cardiovascular disease researcher

That’s why increasing muscle mass and getting jacked is not easy for women because of the natural capacity to not produce testosterone as abundant as men. Still, as a benefit, they are better at maintaining heart health.

But that’s not it. There are features of both hormones that we can perceive as pros and cons before taking a polarising opinion.

Neither a blessing nor a curse.

One month ago, when I discovered the fact about the cardio-supporting benefits of estrogen, I thought I was doomed as a man to die early without knowing what I could do to increase my lifespan.

There is no purpose in getting jacked when I can’t enjoy the benefits for long.

But when I realised my negativity bias was stopping me from researching more, the reason behind a longer lifespan is more than one hormone.

The answer to longevity and heart health is more straightforward than I thought. Follow a healthy lifestyle.

Hormones are a natural part of our functioning, and there’s no point in fighting, resisting or complaining about them.

Instead, the better alternative is to find a way to reduce the odds that are stacked against us.

Or you can take drugs that end up causing a long-term detrimental impact on your health.

The estrogen advantage is not lifelong.

The advantage of estrogen in protecting against heart disease in women is not lifelong.

It stops after a certain period in a woman’s menstrual cycle.

It’s called menopause, and the production of estrogen plummets post-menopause, which happens between the ages of 45 and 55 years.

So, suppose a woman does not follow a healthy lifestyle till menopause and is still sticking to the same lifestyle after menopause. In that case, the chances of heart disease are not gender-specific anymore because the hormone responsible for preventing heart-related deaths is not valid anymore.

Takeaway

Living in harmony with nature also means accepting everything bestowed upon us without complaining or messing with the natural order.

Sure, some women might complain that men put on muscle easily, but that’s not simply because men work harder at the gym. It’s because we also produce testosterone in a significantly large amount, which supports muscle building faster.

There is another benefit of estrogen that I haven’t mentioned. But it stems from the same feature about protecting heart health. It’s about the ability of women to perform cardio more efficiently than men. I am saying this because of 4 years of observation, as I couldn’t find any scientific research supporting my statement.

Cardio demands a lot of effort from the heart for blood circulation, and when your cardiovascular system is robust, your performance in cardio exercises like running, cycling, etc., will improve.

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Sanjeev is a mentor, writer, and gymrat from Mumbai, India. He talks about fitness, self-improvement, and positive psychology. When he’s not at work or writing, he’s sweating either in a workout, vlogging or testing his horrible cooking skills. Apart from Medium, he’s active on Instagram and Threads.