Why Women Out Live Men

I was wondering something while searching for something to write about. It's very sad that men do not live as long as women and I am sure being a widow is tough, especially for the elderly. Often my grandma is always spending her time sleeping, praying, or eating, and sitting quietly in the corner. From the look on her face I can tell that she is lonely and needs someone besides her. No matter how much time one would spend with her it never fills that empty void she has inside. The happiest I've seen her is when she is around babies. She likes taking care of young kids and playing with them because I think she feels welcomed when the babies laugh and smile at her. Somtimes I think she just needs to talk to someone her own age and to have somone by her side who cares for her. Kind of like my grandmpa who died at a very young age, even before I was born. I never got the chance to meet him. So that is why I typed the question why women live longer then men and came up with an article by Time Magazine, entitled " Why Do Women Live Longer Then Men?" The facts are interesting and I left a URL for anyone who would want to read the article themselves.---> http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827162,00.html

For this blog I am going to simply break down what my findings were.

-Woman's advantage over man:

Men develop cardiovascular disease, stroke, and heart attacks at an earlier age than women, according to Tom Perls. women develop cardiovascular disease ten years before men do at their 70's and 80's. Which means that men develop these problems in their 60's and 70's.

-Iron deficiency:

The lack of Iron in women can explain these results. Women loose their iron because of their menstrual period. "Iron plays a very important part in the reactions in our cells that produce damaging free radicals, which gloom onto cell membranes and DNA, and may translate into aging the cell"(http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827162,00.html#ixzz0W3ZUCgTN). Iron is apparent in red meat since it is the main source of Iron. My mom is vegetarian which makes sense why she is low in Iron and in a way I guess being a vegetarian is good for you. I disagree with being a vegetarian though, and disagree with time on this comment because how are you suppose to get a good amount of nourishing protein. Beans and some vegetables barley have enough protein.

-X Chromo:

Because women have two sets of X chromosomes they are advantageous over men whom only have one X chromosome, as we all know. "if one set of variations provides a survival advantage for the cells versus another, then the cells with the advantage will persist while the other ones will die off, leaving behind more cells with the genes on the more advantageous X chromosome. So, in women, cells can perhaps be protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome"( http://www.time.com/).

-Testosterone storm:

Males in their late teens and 20's go through something called "Testosterone Storm"

The levels of testosterone become high and and changes at quite sometimes. This causes men to engage in risky behavior such as aggression, drinking too much, smoking too much and etc. Overall these males can do risky things at this period in their life that can eventually lead to death. Females do not seem to act as risky and therefore live longer.

-Genetics is responsible for only 30% and most people live up to their 80's. The older one is the healthier they are.

-Better care:

three things that women do better than men is not smoke as much, they eat less, and deal with stress in better ways. Since most men keep their feelings inside and do not discuss what is bothering them they tend to put a lot of stress on their body and tend to be sick a lot more. That also explains why men smoke a lot more. When people are stressed out they smoke cigars to relive the stress they are experiencing instead of talking it out. Males have larger bodies than females and can have quite an appetite. Most females now a days tend to be weight cautions and tend to eat salads, fruits, nuts, and granola bars. They feel they have to keep their figure right. While men on the other hand, may work out, but consume meats and butters that are high in cholesterol. Their portions are a lot larger than males so they consume more of it.