Both men and women suffer from various illnesses in their lifetime. It has been found that men’s health differ from women’s health in many ways. Men and women have different symptoms for same medical condition. When it comes to health, males are the weaker. If compared to women, men fall ill at a younger age and suffer more from chronic diseases and the death rate in men is higher in eight out of ten cases. Top three causes of death are- heart disease, cancer and stroke. In all these cases, chances of survival are less for men.
Men are at a higher risk of developing kidney stones than a woman. On the other hand, women are at a higher risk of developing osteoporosis, which results in thinning of bones. Men are more likely to get inguinal hernias, contract AIDS, or develop kidney stones than a woman. Some conditions affect both men and women such as urinary tract issues of kidney and bladder stones. Men are twice as likely to get kidney stones but women are very likely to develop inflammation of the bladder.
Heart disease kills both men and women, but women are more likely to have a second heart attack within a year of the first one. More women are likely to suffer from depression. Osteoporosis related fractures are also more prominent amongst the women. Women are more likely to contract sexually transmitted infection. Three out of four women suffer from autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and lupus. If compared to men, smoking affects the health of a woman adversely.
The reason for differences in the health problems of men and women arises due to difference in their anatomy. Men and women have different hormone types as well as levels. These variations affect their health in different ways. Many medical problems are gender specific. While men might suffer from prostatitis and testicular cancer, women might suffer from uterine fibroids, and cervical and ovarian cancer.
Apart from anatomical differences, certain social and behavioural factors also play a role in the diseases, which affect them. Men have to face more work related stress. However, with more and more women taking up jobs, this difference may fast be narrowing down. Women have larger and reliable social network, which helps in reducing many health related problems such as depression and heart problems. Apart from that, men are known to take more risks than their female counterparts do. They also are more aggressive and violent. All this affects their health negatively.