Sigghhh... Are men really stronger?

Pic 01: I may not be as pretty as before, but I am still alive... hee hee...

For a fact, men have more muscles, power and energy. Yes we can unscrew soy sauce bottles, carry heavy flower pots or hammering nails in. From that narrow perspective, men are indeed stronger.

But seen from longevity strength, we fall far behind. Lets compare the men and the fairer sex:


















Pic 02: Women is the cause or costs to men's shorter lifespan?

1. Chinese women live the longest in Malaysia, with an average life expectancy of 79.8 years, said the Department of Statistics based on its 2010 records.

2. Indian women are in second place with (76.2 years),

3. Malay women (75.3 years),

as compared to men:

4. Chinese men (74.4 years),

5. Malay men (70.5 years) and


6. Indian men (68 years).

According to the 2010 statistics, in general, women in the country had a higher life expectancy at 77 years compared with men at 71.9 years - an improvement from the 74.7 years for women and 70 for men in 2000.

Could the longevity of women be due to lower stress by having fewer babies?
The fertility rate among women, however, dropped from 3.0 in 2000 to 2.2 in 2010. There you go, fewer babies over the past 10 years. Less children means less stress. But what about men who also have smaller families? Their expectancy increased but didn't surpass the women counterparts.

"Malaysia is expected to reach a maximum population of 57 million by 2090. 475,816 births were registered in 2010, excluding still born babies, while there were 129,327 deaths, resulting in an addition of 346,489 people to the population.

Malaysia is among the youngest demographics country in the world because 67.5% of the population are in the 15-64 years bracket.

The statistics also revealed that 71% of the 28.3 million population in the country, lived in urban areas and only 29% remained in rural areas.

So let us get back to the issue, why women outlive men?
Some speculative reasons are:
1) Men shoulder the main responsibility to provide materially for families, thus they face more stress.
2) Men are less inclined to see doctors with minor health problems unless it deteriorated until its too late as it becomes serious illnesses.




















Pic 03: "Drink up and you will look as smart as me."




















Pic 04: What pollution? I am contributing to commercial activities.


3) Men are callous. They drink, wallop Nasi Lemak (Animal fats), sleep less and smoke their lives away. Note that Malay Men don't, or at least not suppose to take alcohol, have shorter lifespan than Chinese Men but longer than Indian Men. It appears that Chinese men would consume alcohol but less Nasi Lemak, Beriani (fatty rice), Sup Kambing (Cholesterol rich mutton) lived the longest. Whereas Indian Men consumed both alcohol and fatty food lived less. More correlation studies are needed here but it seemed that longevity has to do with our diet.

Some speculative reasons for women living longer are:
1. Science perspectives: the female hormone estrogen lowers harmful cholesterol and raises "good" cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein). Emerging evidence suggests estrogen treatment after menopause reduces the risk of dying from heart disease and stroke, as well as of dying in general.
2. Habit Perspective: Women smokes/drink less or not smoke/drink at all compared to men.
3. Diet Quantum Perspective: Women eats less and thus have less problems of high cholesterol and heart disease.
4. Social Perspective: Women are naturally more sociable, being more expressive. When stress, they 'talk their problems' out to their trusted girlfriends. You may note that women can go forever chatting on phones, facebook, cuppa of coffee, snacks. By letting go, their de-stress their emotional state and thus a more relaxed physique. Less risks of developing Heart-related diseases.
5. Society pressure: Women needs to look pretty, shaped pretty. As a result, they pay more attention to facial treatments, gyms, exercise and checking the weights more often than men. Naturally result in healthier bodies.

Contrast with society's perspective of men:



















Pic 05: Man thinking, "I am a successful businessman."


= if a man is bald? ohhh.... this is a boss or "Dai Si Tau" (big Boss)
= if a man is overweight? ohh... this is a successful businessman
= if a man is both? ohh... this is a Successful businessman + Boss.

Men can get away with poor health, strangely associating it with success.

Narrowing the gap
Perls and Fretts of Harvard University, point out that deaths from lung cancer have almost tripled in women in the past 20 years. One study concluded that, on average, middle-aged female smokers live no longer than male smokers.

"Smoking," Perls and Fretts conclude, "seems to be the 'great equalizer.'"

Conclusion
Let us live and enjoy life responsibly being moderate in habits and lifestyle.

Sources :

Laura Blue, 2011, Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men?, http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1827162,00.html#ixzz1hLW3pTqz, Date Visited:23rd December

Thestar, 2011, Malaysian Chinese women live the longest, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2011/12/22/nation/20111222151838&sec=nation, Date Visited: 23rd December