233936 Why Y. is the self destruct chromosome?

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 12:30 PM - 12:50 PM

Ian Banks, MD , The Men's Health Forum, London SE1 OEH, England
The Y Chromosome kills more men than all the world wars, murder, accidents and disease put together: True or False?

Much research into health inequalities focuses on ethnicity, low income, age and isolation but often ignores what one UK public health minister, Yvette Cooper described as the ‘greatest inequality when it comes to health'. Gender. In only two countries will double X owners die sooner. It is easy to fall into the ‘a man has to do what a man has to do' fatalism which pervades not least the medical profession. Misogyny also raises its ugly head despite married men living longer than single men but the reverse for women. Even the most superficial look at life expectancy shows that women do live longer than men and this can be a generation worth of lost life as in Brazil or Russia. However, the very fact that these ratios change from Sweden (where there is little difference in gender life expectancy) to the massive inequalities seen in Latvia, forces us to examine the ‘genetic determinants' of health when it comes to survival.

This presentation looks at worldwide life expectancy based on gender. It refuses to set woman against man, but rather shows how by working together the two sexes can improve not only both life expectancies but also that of our children. Leave your DNA at the door, we are in this together.

Learning Areas:
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
Explain why there is such a difference in life expectancy between the sexes. Identify how life expectancy between sexes can be addressed.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to give this presentation because I am the official spokesman on men's health issues for the British Medical Association,  president of the European Mens Health Forum and the England & Wales Men's Health Forum, vice president of the International Society for the Study of Mens Health, deputy editor of the Mens Health Journal and for six years the medical editor for The Men's Health Magazine.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.