The State of Our Health - Causes Of Death: Women Compared To Men

The differences between men and women persist even until death do them part. The similarities do likewise. The graphic shows the ten leading causes of death for women and for men — but since these are not identical, the actual list has expanded by two causes. One of these is "chronic liver disease and cirrhosis"; it is the 9th most common cause of death for males; the other is suicide, the 8th most common cause of male deaths. The list for both genders combined is identical to the list for women — because women outnumber men and more die in any given year. In 1999, 1.175 million men died and 1.216 million women, 103 women for every 100 men.

There are more than 20 liver diseases. Hepatitis A, B, and C, viral diseases, are a common form. Cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver is often associated with the abuse of alcohol. Alcohol use is also associated with hepatitis in some cases.

The differences between men and women are quite interesting and suggest that what some researchers have called "testosterone toxicity" [Perls/Fretts] predisposes males to dangerous and self-destructive activities. The juxtapositions in the graph show, for instance, that, for men, accidents (most of these are vehicular) rank 4th, for women 7th. For males, suicide makes it into the top ten causes of death at the 8th rank. In 1999, 23,458 men committed suicide while only 5,741 women did; suicide, therefore, did not make the top ten causes for women. Males commit suicide proportionally more both in their critical teenage years and in advancing seniority. More males die of cancer than women, a disease category linked to smoking — and of respiratory diseases, in which emphysema is a leading cause. In 1998, 26.4% of men smoked, 21.9% of women.

For men, Alzheimer's disease does not make it into the top ten — a degenerative brain disease of the late years. Women live longer. Septicemia, caused by infections and blood toxicity, is also not one of the top ten killers of the male.

We turn next to the differences between the races.

Source: Anderson, Robert N. "Deaths: Leading Causes for 1999." National Vital Statistics Reports. v. 49, no. 11. 12 October 2001.epartment of Health and Human Services. For a discussion of gender differences, see Thomas T. Perls and Ruth C. Fretts, "Why Women Live Longer than Men." Scientific American. Online. Available: sciam.com/1998/0698womens/0698perls.htm.