Countless studies show that male gender is a standalone cancer risk factor- there should be research into why and how to fix it.

iainmf · 2018-02-16T10:06:01+00:00

There are some biological reasons.

One relates to X inactivation in females. 50% of a woman’s 46 X chromosomes are shut down shortly after conception. However, some of the genes on those chromosomes remain active anyway. It just happens that a lot of cancer mutations happen in those genes. A woman has a back up gene so both genes would have to mutate for the cancer to really take off. It’s not really super rare for this to happen, but it does provide some protection. A man only has one gene that has to mutate as he only had 23 Xs from the beginning and no extra genes. Hormones might play a part too.

On the whole however, it’s lifestyle. Men are much more likely to smoke, drink, and work in an unhealthy environment. They eat a lot worse, and are much less likely to see a doctor, even if there’s an obvious problem.

This is improving though. Men are drinking less, smoking less, eating better, etc. As a result they’re adding on life expectancy faster than women are lately.

Just for instance, in the USA between 1989 and 2009, women gained almost 3 years to life expectancy. Men gained nearly 5.

UK: In 1981 women outlived men by 6 years. In 2016 women had three years on men. In 2030 it’s predicted women will have only 2 years more if the current trend persists.

I feel you’re right though in saying if it was reversed more attention would be paid to it. Instead, it’s just explained away. “Men are just biologically weaker, don’t have any gene back ups, etc. It’s no one’s fault, just biology.”

Look at women’s heart attacks symptoms as a comparison. It’s an unfortunate fact of biology that women’s symptoms are so vague and doctors suspect other likelier things before they think about a heart attack, right? But instead of it just being dismissed as a biological disadvantage and no one’s fault, there’s a huge push for doctors to consider heart attacks more readily in women. As it should be. Women have different symptoms, and doctors should keep that in mind. Women should know this and know what symptoms it could bring.

What you don’t see is more money being spent on cancers men are more likely to suffer or even more attention being drawn to it to make up for this disadvantage. No one is on a campaign to let men know they’re at a higher risk for cancer, what to do to help it, and what to watch for. Most of the money and focus goes to women even though men have the higher risk.

2018-02-16T10:43:44+00:00

But gender is just a social construct!

Title	Countless studies show that male gender is a standalone cancer risk factor- there should be research into why and how to fix it.
Author	BlueOrange22
Upvotes	30
Comments	3
Date	February 16, 2018 8:06 AM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/7xxc0p/countless_studies_show_that_male_gender_is_a/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/countless-studies-show-that-male-gender-is-a.905859 https://theredarchive.com/post/905859

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