One of the main reasons for this is that men get more of most diseases than
women. Before the age of 65 men are more than twiceas likely to die from heart
disease as women; they are also more likely to suffer strokes, ulcers and liver
failure. Half of all men get cancer, compared with only one-third of women.
Smoking, which until recently was largely a male pastime, accounts for some of
this difference, but not all. According to Andrew Kimbrell(The Masculine
Mystique; Ballantine; $23), the death rate from cancer has risen by 21%in men
in 30 years, while it has stayed the same for women.
For these depressing medical facts, there is a one-word explanation:
testosterone. The male steroid hormone weakens the body'sresistance to
infectious diseases and cancer; it also seems to cause the body to age more
rapidly. Eunuchs ususlly live much longer than other men. To the conspiracy-
minded, testosterone might even look like part of an evolutionary plot on
behalf of females.
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