New study reveals life expectancy in men

A recent study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association revealed that the gap in Life expectancy between men and women in the United States has reached its highest point in almost three decades, standing at 5.8 years. This increase is largely due to factors such as COVID-19 and drug overdoses, disproportionately affecting men.

In 2021, the life expectancy for women in the United States was 79.3 years, while for men men was significantly younger, standing at 73.5 years. These data, provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and analyzed in the study, highlight the growing concern for the health and well-being of the male population.

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Dr. Brandon Yan, a resident physician at the University of California, San Francisco and lead author of the study, expressed concern when he saw these results. According to Yan, at the beginning of the 20th century, the difference in Life expectancy between men and women it was barely two years. However, this gap began to widen over the next seven and a half decades, largely because more men smoked and, as a result, developed cardiovascular disease or lung cancer.

Although smoking rates have decreased and, with them, excess deaths, especially among menthe gender gap in life expectancy began to widen again starting in 2010. This change was primarily due to death rates from opioid overdoses, which were more than double in men compared to women.

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The study also points out that the men They are at higher risk of developing diabetes and heart disease, as well as facing higher rates of homicide and suicide. These factors contribute to the lower life expectancy compared to women.

The COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated this gap. In the United States, more than 1.1 million people have died due to the virus, with a significant impact on life expectancy, which fell from 79 to 76 years between 2019 and 2021. men They died from COVID at a higher rate than women, and the reasons for this disparity are complex, ranging from biological factors to social and behavioral differences.

Additionally, an increase in deaths was observed men due to unintentional injuries, primarily drug overdoses, as well as an increase in deaths from homicide or suicide. Yan suggests this reflects a general worsening of mental health, particularly among men.

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