Boys have higher death rates from many causes, study shows

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

http://healthyliving.msn.com/diseases/cancer/boys-have-higher-death-rates-from-many-causes-study-shows-1

(HealthDay News) -- Males may be the more vulnerable sex when it comes dying young -- not just from accidents, but from a range of causes, a new study finds.

Looking at a decade's worth of data on U.S. children and teenagers, researchers found that boys had higher death rates than girls from 17 of 19 broad causes.

Those included not only accidents -- in which boys' greater risk-taking can come into play -- but also cancer and diseases of the heart, lungs and nervous system.

Past research has suggested that girls have a certain survival advantage. In many countries, for example, infant mortality is higher for boys. And it's well known that teenage boys are more likely than girls to die from trauma -- whether from accidents, homicide or suicide.

[RevStPatrick]

1. A new study? Hasn't this always been the case?

They needed a new study to conclude this?
This has been true since before we came down from the trees...

[applegrove]

2. That is why in all cultures more boys are born than girls.

[nomorenomore08]

3. Yet in most cultures, the gender ratio winds up being the opposite of that (more adult women

especially in old age). Shows you just how high male death rates tend to be.

[lumberjack_jeff]

7. The fact that we spend less on mens healthcare is a contributory factor. n/t

[Bonobo]

4. The ho-hum with which this is treated is telling indeed.

If it were women who died so many years before men, it would be talked about endlessly.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Just for fun, I looked up...

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-key-statistics

The American Cancer Society's estimates for breast cancer in the United States for 2013 are:
About 232,340 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed in women.
About 64,640 new cases of carcinoma in situ (CIS) will be diagnosed (CIS is non-invasive and is the earliest form of breast cancer).
About 39,620 women will die from breast cancer

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostatecancer/detailedguide/prostate-cancer-key-statistics

Other than skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in American men. The American Cancer Society’s estimates for prostate cancer in the United States for 2013 are:
About 238,590 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed
About 29,720 men will die of prostate cancer

About 1 man in 6 will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime.

So, where are the Andrew G. Komen blue wallets and hammers and stuff?

While I fully support research and assistance to victims of breast cancer, I am pretending to be the Martian visitor watching the hoopla over a dreadful "woman's disease" compared to the overall silence concerning an equally dreadful "men's disease" and curious as to just why this is.

[Bonobo]

6. Blame the "Patriarchy"

I guess.

[nomorenomore08]

8. What they call "patriarchy" - though I tend to avoid that term - devalues men's lives

as well as women's. Just saying...