Are men shortchanged on health? Perspective on life expectancy, morbidity, and mortality in men and womenin the United States

In most regions around the world, life expectancy inmen is lower than women. However, research in1970’s and 1980’s has routinely showed a higher mor-bidity in women than in men. This notion of‘gender paradox’ with higher morbidity yet longer lon-gevity in women has been the center of attention for awhile. Using data from CDC (Health United States,2007), American Heart Association, American ObesityAssociation, and American Cancer Society, this reviewwill summarize and compare recent trends for: lifeexpectancy, morbidity, and mortality for men andwomen in United States. We postulate that there isdeficiency in our understanding of men’s health andof the factors that affect men’s health. This paper willshow that men have lower life expectancy; they havesignificant morbidity and higher mortality from theleading causes of death in United States. We proposethe etiology for the relative stagnation of men’s healthcompared to health in women. In addition, we pro-pose recommendations to improve men’s health.