WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN

Grey River Argus, 22 November 1912, Page 1

WOMEN LIVE LONGER THAN MEN

■■—— — ♦/' '. . . . . ■ . Let us first see. how women compare with, men., iiu regard- to physical ability , and. lesgth. of life. It may at once be stated. ,as. an indisputable fact, that women live longer than men, —: about five years, on^an average. This .statement . is at once substantiated when, one, examines the annuity tables of. the, .various insurance companies. In. every, case the annuity, granted, to a woman for every £100 paid is" less by from 14s to 1 8s than that granted to a man. - • . : Fo rinstance, for every £100 paid in connection with- an annuity purchased 1 of the Alliance Insurance Com-. pany-,a man of ,55 deceives £7 us yd, while a woman receives only ;£6 17s 1 id. And 'here are . the . annuities^-paid ttt^ men- andt womfen respectively, at the same age— ssfeby . companies for. a' similar; amount, ,tyiz., £100 : — Equit-' able, £7 9s iod, and ; £t 16s 4d ; London Assurance, £7 4s aiYa^G ios Bdi Norwich Union Life, £j 12s 4d and £6 iSs id; Pearl, £7 2s and ■ £6'- : Bs Sd; Prudential, £7 13s 6d.and. £6 19s. It is the same in -the case of air insurance companies, which base the amount of- the annuity paid to. each, sex on woman's longer lease of life. THE REASON. Various theories have been advanced; by medical- men and scientists to ac-. count fo rthis tenacity of life on the part of women. On- two points they are practically unanimous — that wo-" mas possesses greater powers of resisting disease, and that while,, so far ■as physical strength is concerned, she is not, of course, the equal of man, it is ' the ! tendency to early physical exhaustion wihich serves to protect; her from the fatal crash which often comes . to man from over-exertion. In other words, .-woman heeds -the warnings of fatigue owing to her peculiar psycho-physical organisation, and consequently avoids' the ill-effects of. over-exertion ; but. man, with his iron Will, often, after, complete exhaustion, "resolves to take "another step if lie dies in the attempt. The consequence is that woman accumulates energy because she expends it moderately, while man expends more energy than 'he accumulates; r I ; As' one authority has put it, if : one thousand able-bodied men arid one thousand able-bodied women -be uniformed, armed, asd equipped for battle ,and ordered on a long: and weary marc lito the front, more men would probably reach their destination, wihile more women would be found exhausted but more men would be found ?dead on the roadside. ' WOMAN'S IMMUNITY FROM . '■; "; ; DISEASE; With regard to woman's power of resisting disease, some remarkable -facts.: are "put /forward, by scientists. It appears that whooping-cough and diph - itheria are the only two ' complaints .which appear to , be more fatal in fe- ' males than in males. Whether correctly or riot, this has been attributed to the smaller size of the throat in; 'females. During childhood: there appears to be a little difference in the susceptibility of the sexes in regard to cholera,, small-pox, and influenza; yet, while adult females appear to be more susceptible to all, and especially the first two, all are believed to be more fatal in adult males. Again, can cer was said to be the only disease common- to, both sexes from which adult . females suffer more than adult males.; but the rate .of increase pi cahcGr is .now; much greater in men than in women. < With i regard 'to insanity, womeo, , bj reason of their neurotic temperamem suffer : more from •emotional : lnsanitj than men, '-• but • they ; recover more s of ■ ten. For men: suffer; more -from • seriour brain lesions and from paralysis oi the brain," arid, as.aconsequerice,'offe] less hope -of •recovery/- The special susceptibility of -' women that renders them 1 more ; liable •to ' attacks 'of ' Eysteria, neurasthenia, emotional, states.

; and "the milder forms of insanitly appears^o -Serve as a distinct advantage, for it wduld seem to act somewhat as 'a barrier against attacks of the more fatal forms of. mental affections. •■* . BIRTH AND GROWTH. We are accustomed to think that a far greater number of females than males are born every year. But, as a matter of fact, taking the average, birth rate of' the principal European countries, it appears that for every 'hundred girls born there are slightly more than, on,e hundred and five boys born. The predominance of females in later life is accounted for by.- "the greater' tenacity of life in women. Affer tfeie third year 'there does not . appear to be any special difference in. the mortality of the : sexes until after thirty : or thirty-five, when' the ratio turns in favour of the'-'. women, and continues in. their- l'avour until about severity, when there appear to be but : little difference until eighty-five,, after ' which the. difference "is more marked "the- farther 'we go towards extreme old age. Another curious fact , regarding women is that at one period of their lives they excel men in . regard 'to weight and height. At birth boys are slightly larger, both in height and weight, arid continue in the lead until twelve, then girls pass them, both in -height-, and.. weight, for about two years when the boys again take the lead^- and complete their growth at about -twentythree or twenty-foui, while girls complete their gr<>w,tH; ap ninteen or twenty With this brief exception, males excel in height and weight throughout life. CHANCES. OF LIFE. Among other amazing facts about women, it might be mentioned that degenerate changes, in the blod yessels \nd rigidity of the thorax, both characteristics 'of senile decay, are found much earlier in men than in -women. Then, again, men die-suddenly much oftener than women, and .men suffer from baldness much more often than : women. Women have,' too, the greater'capacity to endure heat on account, of the fact that they excrete less carbonic acid ,and therefore are in less need of oxygen. > This is thought also to "be one of the reasons why women experience less discomfort than men in br.cathin gthe rarefied air of high altitudes, and why, too,, women ■ suffer less from chloroform anaethetics. To sum up, a noted English statistician has calculated _that, of two children, a boy. and a girl, born on the same day, the boy will have only have seventeen chances against eleven of living one year, while the girj. will have twenty-one chances against eleven From five to fifteen there appears to. be- but little«^differ«encfi^,b^ul-irom:fifT. teen .to nineteen, the critical period of /the life of. the female, the boy will have. 269 chances, and the girl- 277: .chances of living against one of death.'