A report out today suggests that men in the UK are 60% more likely to develop cancer than women. Why?
1. Men tend to prefer a more unhealthy way of living.
For example, men tend to prefer beer to wine, and:
Beer drinkers are more likely to buy unhealthy food such as chips and ready meals than people who prefer wine, a Danish study suggests.
2. More men smoke than women.
China Male Smokers: 50% China Women Smokers: 18%
US Male Smokers: 35% US Female Smokers: 20%
The trend tends to be the same in the UK also.
I’m sure you’ve heard some of these crazy rumours about smoking being bad for you.
3. Ignorance?
Women’s magazines are packed full of lists and articles all about the various different things that can cause you cancer; women are clued up about these things.
However men don’t know, and more importantly don’t really care if jelly beans kill you, and the other million things.
4. Men are more reluctant to seek medical help.
Men tend to be less eager to pay regular visits to the GP, they are often seen as wasting time and many males think ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’. Whereas the issue could well be ‘it is broke and it needs fixing, but it don’t hurt right now so I’m not gonna think about it.’
5. It’s all about the X&Y!
According to Time magazine:
Women have two X chromosomes, while men have one. (Men have an X and a Y.) When cells go through aging and damage, they have a choice in terms of genes — either on one X chromosome or the other. Consider it this way: you have a population of cells, all aging together. In some cells, the genes on one X chromosome are active; in other cells, by chance, the same set of genes, with different variations, are active on the other X chromosome. Don’t forget, we all have the same genes — the reason we differ is because we express different variations of those genes, like different colors of a car. Now, if one set of variations provides a survival advantage for the cells versus another, then the cells with the advantage will persist while the other ones will die off, leaving behind more cells with the genes on the more advantageous X chromosome. So, in women, cells can perhaps be protected by a slightly better variation of a gene on the second X chromosome. Men don’t have this luxury and don’t get this choice.
Any objections?
The Blewog Blog 