Have women always lived longer than men? Why do females tend to have more longevity? From this point of departure began the study that has analyzed the life expectancy of people born between 1800 and 1935 in three different countries. Their findings reveal that women have not always lived longer than men and that the rise in life expectancy is fairly recent.
The research focused on the mortality of people over 40 years of age, discovering that in all those born after 1880, female mortality rates decreased up to 70% faster compared to men , in whom cardiovascular diseases were the main cause. leading cause of death.
“We were surprised by the way in which the divergence of mortality between men and women, originating from 1870, was concentrated in the interval between 50 and 70 years of age. A difference that disappears abruptly after the age of 80 ”, explains Eileen Crimmins, co-author of the study.
Basically, as the prevention of infectious diseases gradually reached every corner of the planet, together with the improvement of diet and other healthy habits, mortality rates fell, especially among women. From the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, longevity became a more exclusive preserve of women due to the higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases among men. Scientists believe that this conclusion raises the question of whether men and women face different risks at the heart level due to biological characteristics or other reasons.
The study was carried out by a team of scientists from the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California (USA) and published in the journal Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
