WHY DO WOMEN LIVE LONGER: LIVING DANGEROUSLY
Close to 95,000 men a year die of lung cancer, compared to 66,000 women. Nearly twice as many men as women die of cirrhosis of the liver. And males are three times as likely to be killed in accidents. The reasons are obvious. Men smoke more, drink more, and take more unnecessary risks than women.
“Add to that the fact that men eat more meat, fat, dairy products, eggs, and high-calorie foods than women, while women eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-calorie foods,” says Dr. Crose. “It’s small wonder that men’s lives are cut short.”
And cut is exactly the word to describe the often sudden ends that men come to, says Dr. Kawachi. “The biggest killer of men in their prime is heart attack. Men also die of sudden death more frequently than women. They have no inkling that they have heart disease, and then they get ventricular fibrillation and drop dead,” he says.
One way to avoid getting stopped in your tracks is to have annual physicals. Another is to make small lifestyle adjustments to keep healthier and safer. Here are doctors’ top tips.
Terminate tobacco. Whether you chew it or smoke it, tobacco use dramatically raises your risk for cancer, Dr. Goldberg says. Chewing tobacco causes oral cancer. Smoking is responsible for almost 90 percent of lung cancers among men and significantly raises a person’s risk for developing cancer of the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and esophagus.
“People tire of hearing it, but quitting smoking is the best thing you can do for yourself,” Dr. Kawachi says. “If you’re a lifetime smoker, you have a one in four chance of dying from a disease related to that habit, especially before age 65.” No matter how old you are when you quit, you lower your risk of cancer and heart disease almost immediately, Dr. Kawachi says. Research shows that your risk of having a heart attack drops within the first 24 hours. And within the first five years, your risk of dying from lung cancer is cut in half.
Drink, but think. Once you have a few, you’re well past the point of thinking about your drinking. So try doing what women-who are frequently designated drivers-do. Before you start, think about what you’re going to drink and what you’re going to do afterward. Then limit yourself to just a couple. “While there’s evidence that moderate drinking may be good for the heart, excessive booze is bad for it. Plus it increases your risk for cancer and cirrhosis of the liver,” Dr. Goldberg says. Booze is partly to blame for five times as many men as women drowning, though more men know how to swim, and for men being almost 2H times more likely to die in a car accident than women, he says.
Flip-flop fiber and fat. Most men eat more fat than they should, and they’re often eating more than they realize. To get less artery-clogging fat in your diet, make a point to choose fibrous foods over fatty foods whenever possible, says Dr. Kawachi. That means if there’s a choice between a baked potato and fries, go with the baked potato.
“This is often harder for men than for women,” Dr. Crose says. “Women become concerned about food at an early age, which is a problem regarding eating disorders, but it can be helpful in preventing chronic diseases later in life.” By keeping this rule in mind, you’ll almost automatically eat more fruits, vegetables, and grains and less processed high-fat foods.
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