Careful friends will find that many elderly people around them often have their husbands who died earlier, and most of them live longer than wives. What's going on?

1. Is lifespan related to gender?

In human society, data from various countries show that the average life expectancy of women is higher than that of men, and women account for the vast majority of centenarians.

Is lifespan affected by gender? The UNSW research team compared lifespan data for 229 different species across mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.

They found sexes with the same sex chromosome lived longer, with an average difference of 17.6% .

Analyzing back to humans, we all know that women have the same sex chromosomes (XX), while men have different sex chromosomes (XY) , this set of XY The chromosomal sex determination system also applies to most mammals.

While many birds, reptiles, fish and insects use the ZW sex determination system, females have the same sex chromosome (ZZ) and males have (ZW) sex chromosomes.

The researchers speculate that Y chromosome decline may be one reason for the shortened lifespan of males . The sex chromosomes of heterogamous sex are composed in many different ways, and some species are missing a sex chromosome.

The human Y chromosome is shorter than the X chromosome, The two X chromosomes in females reduce the possibility of mutation and form a complementary relationship with each other. Species with less chromosomal differences live longer in terms of the likelihood of highly degenerated or missing sex chromosomes.

In addition, they believe that individual lifespan is related to environment and behavior. In most species, males face greater reproductive competition. Males need to compete for territory, and raising offspring requires more investment to attract female attention.

Let’s take a look at women. Estrogen in women is opposite to androgen, which can regulate cholesterol levels, which is conducive to maintaining cardiovascular elasticity and giving the body a stronger antioxidant capacity .

Males, on the other hand, are dominated by androgens, which lead to a higher risk of high blood pressure and stroke. Therefore, sex hormones are also an important factor in determining life expectancy.

2. Why is the life expectancy of husbands generally shorter than that of wives?

Women know how to release their emotions better

Women often cry to release their anxiety and depression, and they will also find good girlfriends to talk about their troubles. On the other hand, "men do not cry when they have tears". Men always hold things in their hearts , do not like to confess to others, and are afraid of other people's strange eyes. Inner restlessness naturally has a negative impact on physical health.

Men are stressed at work

Many men play the role of the head of the family, with all the burdens of the family on their shoulders, and they will continue to run around to earn more material. And many physically demanding jobs can only be done by young, strong men. A male who has spent a lot of time on his body for a long time will put his body in a state of wasting.

Irregular life and rest

Men pay more attention to social activities, and will go to good brothers and good friends to meet in three or five days. Meeting places are indispensable smoking, drinking, playing mahjong, often late at night . Alcohol and tobacco are already very harmful to the body. Coupled with irregular work and rest, it is undoubtedly worse.

Many men do not pay attention to women's body shape. Often after the age of 30, most men begin to have "potbellies". The symptoms of obesity can cause high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar. and other chronic diseases .