To live life as a male is to accept higher mortality rates at every age, and across every socio-economic, and ethnic group. To be a male, is to lead in all the major causes of death, and to experience lower life expectancy in every country in the world, without exception. Yes, this universal ‘male privilege’ of #menshealth is seen at every stage of life, and across every nation, both developed and developing, and still fails to win much interest from public or politicians alike. But there’s more… This shorter life expectancy for males is cross-species, with many of the world’s animals sharing the same biological vulnerability of non-matching chromosome pairs. And that’s what much of this comes down to. A hidden vulnerability to men’s health, locked deep inside the very genetics of maleness, known as “The Unguarded X Hypothesis”. Of course, men’s universally-observed life expectancy gap, and sky-high mortality rates, cannot be solely attributed by their chromosomes; there are huge structural, environmental, and lifestyle influences at play too… But could the latest research that peers into the black box of our genes help close the gap, to win back the years lost by so many men? What do you think? ~ The Royal Society Study  The Guardian  Images Boston Public Library, Abstral official, Church of the King, Europeana, Ben-o-Bro, Getty. #malehealth

2025-01-12