One thing is certain: the World Health Organization explains that males live on average 69.8 years while women 74,2. There is no doubt about this. A new study published in Lancet explains how men die earlier because they suffer more wear and tear on their physical health and are affected by more pathologies than women, but women develop mental health problems much more frequently. If women suffer more from lumbago, headaches and depressive disorderswhich affect their daily routine, men are more likely to have heart problems or get involved in a car accident. The survey is based on data taken from Global burden of disease study of 2021, a database that focuses on the approximately twenty most serious health conditions over the age of 10 in over 200 countries.
Sex and gender
The research effectively explains that it is the sex determining the biological factors (sex chromosomes and reproductive anatomy) that the type (social construct linked to the socially attributed roles and behaviors of men and women) influence our lives and therefore health. “Most diseases that disproportionately affect women or men, such as depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, and traffic accidents, begin to differentiate in adolescence” explained the authors of the study “Existing research suggests that this period coincides with a crucial age, when gender norms and attitudes intensify and puberty reshapes self-perception”.
The consequences
Through the Disability-Adjusted Life Years (Daly), which is the sum of the years of life lost due to premature mortality and the years lived with a disability, it was discovered that in the first case, therefore years of life lost due to illness, were more tall in men. While the seven disability conditions that affect the quality of life were found to be greater in women. It’s about depression, headaches, anxiety, musculoskeletal disorders, dementia and HIV.
In conclusion
Women do not develop as many life-threatening conditions as men but they suffer disproportionately from conditions that significantly reduce their quality of life.
Sara Guila Fidel Kinori, clinical psychologist and member of the women’s health committee at the Vall d’Hebron hospital in Barcelona, Spain, says it well: “Women are not biologically different from men but culture and gender determine these differences, which is why we must focus and investigate these cultural and socioeconomic determinants that differentiate us”
