Men live unhealthier than women

Study: Men live unhealthier than women and are more likely to develop serious illnesses at a young age.

An evaluation of private health insurance DKV showed that men in Germany more often fall ill at a young age, than women. The study is based on an overall evaluation of DKV Versicherung data. In total, 400,000 data records of insured persons were evaluated anonymously.

Men often live unhealthily
The often unhealthy lifestyle of men has, according to the DKV study, the consequence that the morbidity rate in men is significantly higher than in women. On average, women pay more attention to their health, exercise more and eat healthier. Although the study results are not representative, the data show a clear trend in men and women. Already in the summer of 2010, the health insurance had a report „How healthy is Germany?“ released. For the evaluation, a total of 2500 DKV insured persons were surveyed about their health behavior. It turned out that men smoke more often and drink more alcohol. According to the DKV, it can be deduced that men have a higher obesity and cardiovascular disease risk than women. The risk of obesity alone is a third higher than in women.
Men often suffer a heart attack
A significant increase in disease was found in the study, especially in men over the age of 45 years. Men often suffer a heart attack. Below the age of 70, men experience infarcts more than three times as often as women. A heart attack is favored in addition to a genetic disposition mainly by smoking, lack of exercise and unhealthy diet. So one could conclude here also conclusions on a more unhealthy way of life of the men, as it was called.

Risk of death in men is twice as high
The evaluation results are also confirmed by other studies. Thus, at the beginning of the year, the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) in Berlin published an evaluation of the risk of dying of women and men in Germany. According to the results, men have a life expectancy of just under 76, women, however, are older and live on average until the age of 80 years. In younger years (between 30 and 64) twice as many men die as women. This is how Prof. Dr. Frank Sommer says: "Women live in their bodies, men use their body as an instrument rather than neglecting it." Women also have better strategies for problems and illnesses: „They talk more about a problem, men are more likely to eat it in themselves, "recently summarized Prof. Peter Falkai, director of the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at the University of Göttingen.

According to the DKV CEO Günter Dibbern genetic positions cause the heart attack risk in men. But that alone does not necessarily mean that men suffer a heart attack. The DKV report showed, for example, that men eat less fruit and vegetables, but consume more meat. About 25 percent of the men eat meat every day, while in women the rate is 15 percent. Men move less and are more often distressed by stress.

Women still pay more for their health insurance
Women have to pay higher premiums for private health insurance. This circumstance is often justified by the insurers with a higher life expectancy. On average, women have to pay between 10 and 30 percent more for their insurance policy. But not only the higher life expectancy is responsible for the high sum insured: Although women live healthier and are thus less prone to serious diseases, but women seem to go more often and earlier to the doctor. According to the DKV study women take a longer treatment by comparison.

Marriage could save men
The DKV now wants to use the study results to provide improved health services to the insured men. Men should be encouraged to eat healthier and to take more frequent check-ups. However, people at DKV are aware that the social environment plays a major role and that men must fundamentally change their thinking. Very interesting in this context is that marriage lowers the risk of dying in men. The Robert Koch Institute recently discovered that the death rate among unmarried men between the ages of 30 and 60 is 2.5 times greater than that of married couples. According to experts, this is because women in the marriage pay attention to men's health and, for example, urge and remind them to take medical appointments. Also, the diet is generally healthier in the course of a marriage than with unmarried men. (sb, 08.10.2010)

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