It’s a fact that, on average, women live longer than men. More than half (57 percent) of women ages 65 and older are female. By age 85, 67 percent are women. The average lifespan is about five years longer for women than men in the United States and seven years longer worldwide.
A glance around most assisted living facilities shows women usually far outnumber men. When a man moves into a senior residential setting dominated by the geriatric set, he tends to be very popular, especially if he still drives.
So why do men, on average, die first?
• First of all, they take bigger risks. The frontal lobe of the brain which controls judgement develops more slowly in boys and young men than in females. This contributes to the fact that far more males die in accidents or due to violence than females. Examples include biking, driving drunk, and homicide. This lack of consideration of consequences may also contribute to detrimental lifestyle decisions such as smoking or drinking to excess.
• More dangerous jobs. Men far outnumber women in the riskiest occupations, including military combat, firefighting, and working at construction sites.
• Heart disease. Men are 50 percent more likely to die of heart disease, partly due to the fact that men have lower estrogen levels than women.
• Larger than women. Across many species, larger animals tend to die younger than smaller ones. In humans this tends to work against male longevity.
• Commit suicide more often. Although depression is more common among women, men avoid seeking help for mental illness.
• Less socially connected. For reasons that aren’t clear, people with fewer and weaker social connections (including men) tend to have higher death rates.
• Avoid doctors. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, men far less likely than women to have seen a doctor of any kind during the previous year.
• Survival in the womb is also less reliable for male fetuses (for uncertain, and probably multiple, reasons). Developmental disorders are also more common among boys which could shorten life expectancy. (Harvard Medical School)