The men's health crisis is seen most dramatically in mortality figures. In 1920, the life expectancy of males and females was roughly the same. Since that time and, increasingly, in the 1970's and 1980's, the life expectancy for men has dropped in comparison with that of women. Men's life expectancy is now over 10 percent lower than that of women. The average life expectancy for Black men is 65 years, that of Black women is 73 years. The average life expectancy for white men is 71 years, that of white women is 78 years. Over the last thirty years, the ratio of male mortality over female mortality has increased in every age category.
Men's health is obviously a concern for men but it is also a concern for women -- concern for the fathers, husbands, sons and brothers loved by the women in their lives. Men's health is also a concern for employers who lose productive employees as well as pay the costs of medical care and a concern for government and society which absorb the enormous costs of premature death and disability, including the costs of caring for dependents left behind.
The relative lag in men's health is due to a number of causes. One primary cause is the cultural message that men should not react to pain in their bodies or their souls. Thoreau observed more than a century ago that "the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation," yet many men continue to fear the risk of appearing unmanly or merely mortal by changing their behavior or their environment in life preserving ways. The consequence is that men are at greater risk for several of the top killers of Americans -- heart disease, cancer, suicide, accidents and violence. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for men. One in every five men can expect to suffer a heart attack before the age of 65. Between the ages of 25 and 75, men's death rate from heart disease is two to three times greater than that experienced by women in the same age group.
Both male specific cancers (testicular, prostate) and other non-gender specific cancers have reached epidemic proportions among men. One in eleven men is expected to develop prostate cancer at some point in his life. While female specific cancers also are taking a tragic toll among women, men are dying from cancer at twice the rate of women. Black men are especially at risk. The cancer death rate for Black men is twice that of white males.
Death by suicide, accident and violence is also a predominantly male phenomenon. Premature death by suicide, violence or accident is all too common for men. Approximately four out of five deaths by suicide are men. In the 20 - 24 age group, for example, men are over six times more likely to commit suicide than are women. Above the age of 85, men are over eleven times more likely to take their own lives. Veterans and divorced men have suicide rates even higher than those of other men.
Work place accidents are also a major killer of men. 98 percent of all employees in the top ten most dangerous professions are men and 94 percent of all those who die in the workplace are men.
Men are the primary victims of health destroying addictions. Currently, it is estimated that over two-thirds of all alcoholics are men and that over 80 percent of those suffering from fatal, alcohol-induced liver disease are men. Government studies show that over 80 percent of those who have serious drug addictions are men. The death rate for drug abuse reflects this same percentage. Additionally, 90 percent of those arrested for alcohol or drug abuse are men.
While men visit doctors at a rate that is 25 percent less than that of women, men account for 66 percent of the patients admitted to emergency rooms and their hospital stays are longer due to the severity of their conditions. While men are less likely to obtain mental and emotional health assistance, they are far more likely to be admitted to psychiatric hospitals.
The men's health crisis is exacerbated by the fact that there is no national campaign addressing the many issues that are causing so many millions of men to die prematurely. The lack of awareness, disease prevention information and psychological help for men is tragic. Virtually all of the major killers of men are preventable. Changes in life-style, eating habits, workplace environment and other strategies including early disease detection can not only save millions of men's lives each year, but can also change the nature of men's place in society and in the lives of those they love and those who love them.
Email to the Editor