A New Book Aims to Help Men to Live Longer

Posted on August 7, 2009 in Consumer Goods, Health & Medicine

On average, American women live six years longer than American men. Women are three times as likely to live past 90 as men. Author Marianne J. Legato, MD examines the causes, and some possible solutions, in her new book Why Men Die First: How to Lengthen Your Lifespan.

Dr. Legato cites the reasons for men’s shorter lifespan as both cultural and biological. Women, she writes, have certain genetic advantages. Women have stronger immune systems and are less likely to die from common communicable diseases. Women are also less likely to develop heart disease, one of the leading causes of death for men, because estrogen helps to prevent it.

Also of concern, men are far less likely to ask for help or visit the doctor when experiencing physical or emotional discomfort. From an early age males are told to be “tough” and not to complain. Therefore men are less likely to have their illnesses diagnosed and treated before it’s too late. Men also suffer from depression and suicide, but where women will show symptoms, men will often mask their feelings by drinking or engaging in risky behavior.

Dr. Legato encourages medical professionals, and men themselves, to be more proactive in recognizing and treating men’s health issues. “It is a need that has never been addressed,” she says. “Men have been tremendously neglected and it doesn’t have to be that way.”