Shocking discovery: Men are the 'weaker sex'!

Women or men, who is really stronger? Photo: Alamy

Eleanor Roosevelt - wife of the late US President Franklin D. Roosevelt, once compared strong women to tea bags, because only when dipped in hot water will people know how strong the tea bag is.

Surely if she were alive, the late first lady of the United States would wholeheartedly agree with the recent study that women are not the weaker sex.

Strong through disasters

By pageThe Telegraph(UK), research conducted by scientists at the University of Southern Denmark (Denmark).

They studied a wealth of historical data on male-female mortality rates during past famines and epidemics, as well as the endurance of ancient slaves.

During each crisis, scientists found that women lived much longer than men, despite living conditions being extremely difficult for both sexes.

For example, during the Irish potato famine that devastated the country in 1845–1849, life expectancy for both sexes was below 38 years. But at its worst, life expectancy for men plummeted to just 18.17 years, while for women it was 22.4.

Similarly, women outlived men by many years during the Swedish famine of 1772–1773 and the Ukrainian crop failure of 1933.

Women's life expectancy also exceeded that of men by about two years during the terrible measles epidemic in Iceland in the 19th century.

"The crises we studied were truly catastrophic. But in those crises, women's life expectancy was always higher than men's," said Dr. Virginia Zarulli, an epidemiologist and the study's lead author.

The only exception was during the Trinidad slave trade from Africa to the Americas in the early decades of the 19th century. During that time, men lived longer, which the researchers say is because traffickers preferred male slaves because they were more valuable.

Through statistics, the research team found a significant difference in infant mortality rates between the two sexes in disasters such as epidemics or famine. Specifically, girls have a much higher survival rate after birth than boys.

In addition, the number of elderly women is also much greater than that of men.

Why are women "stronger" than men?

Researchers have concluded that women are biologically "tougher" than men.

This may be due to the different sex hormones in the two sexes. Specifically, Estrogen also has the effect of reducing cholesterol in the blood plasma, reducing the risk of atherosclerosis in women... Meanwhile, testosterone is a potential cause of many dangerous diseases, as well as harming the immune system.

Evolutionarily, experts believe that women have better immune systems because they are "hardened" by nine months of childbearing while men are not.

In addition, socio-cultural differences between the two sexes also contribute to the formation of women's "power".

"Men are often more reckless than women in many activities and jobs, which is also the reason contributing to the difference in life expectancy between the two sexes," said Dr. Zarulli.

"Today, men often smoke, drink alcohol, use many stimulants, and eat irregularly, leading to a high risk of respiratory diseases, lung cancer, cirrhosis and many other deadly dangers," added Dr. Zarulli.

Professor Max Headley, a physiologist at the University of Bristol (UK), added: "Women often have more subcutaneous fat and a lower metabolic rate. Therefore, women's energy can be retained longer, increasing endurance in case of famine."

Today, women generally live longer than men in many places. Dr. Zarulli’s research adds another piece to the puzzle of the gender gap in life expectancy.