We all know that women live several years longer than men, and I've seen a lot of people quickly attribute it to the fact men are expected by society to work their hands to the bone for 40ish years, whereupon their bodies give out sooner due to the prolonged exhaustion. Other things also contribute to lower average life such as the under funding of prostate cancer research, for example, in comparison to breast cancer research despite comparable diagnosis numbers. While I won't immediately dismiss these as contributing factors, I wonder how much--if at all--male life expectancy would be improved if we changed these things.

Human life expectancy for both genders equally surged through advancements in medical science. We were able to increase how long we lived and the quality of our lives through what amounted to artificial chemical changes that influenced our immune response (i.e. vaccines). Therefore, who is to say that life expectancy differences between the sexes isn't predominantly defined by our natural chemical makeup and/or genetics?

I bring this up because I see two major attributes that seem to affect lifespan more than anything. The first is testosterone production. We've found links to shorter lifespan in men because of testosterone. The article I just linked also contains reference to eunuchs (castrated men) and how they lived substantially longer than normal men. It's surmised that their lack of testosterone production bolstered their immune response.

The other factor which I think influences gender lifespan differences is the presence of an active FOXO3 gene. We have found strong associations with human longevity in people who possess this gene. The gist of it is that shorter people are much more likely to have an active FOXO3 gene. Which sex tends to be shorter on average? Female. Shorter people also tend to have the following biological mechanisms that contribute to longer life:

  1. Fewer cell replications allow a reserve of cells for use during old age.

  2. Insulin and other growth factors are lower and low levels are related to greater longevity.

  3. Smaller left ventricular mass of the heart is related to reduced heart failure and all-cause mortality.

  4. Lower levels of C-reactive protein, homocysteine, and glucose reduce mortality.

  5. Lower blood pressure.

I'm all for changing society's view towards men in relation to expectations to provide. I'm also for pushing to have things like prostate cancer funding increased to equal levels of breast cancer funding. However, I want us to be realistic in terms of how much affect either of those things will have on how long we live.