Gender Differences Between Health And Illness

Gender Differences

This week we discovered that there are differences between genders concerning health and illness. (Ogden, 2017) We explored the impact of gender on health in terms of illnesses and physical symptoms. (Ogden, 2017) “Men and women are alike in many ways. However, there are important biological and behavioural differences between the two genders.” (Regitz-Zagrosek, 2017) There are reasons why there are differences in illnesses and symptoms according to the gender. Some of the reasons for these differences between genders include biological factors, health behaviors, risky behaviors, help seeking behaviors, social norms, and coping mechanisms. (Ogden, 2017)

There several differences in illness according to gender. Women are

Women are more likely to suffer from fatigue, headaches, constipation, fainting, dizziness and kidney or bladder problems than men. However, it’s interesting to see that there are no gender differences for the following symptoms: eye problems, ear problems, colds and flu, catarrh, coughs, and palpitations. (Ogden, 2017) Worldwide women tend to live 3 years longer than men, but this varies across regions. (Ogden, 2017) Both genders demonstrate different mortality rates which differ in terms of the specific illness and the physical symptoms. (Ogden, 2017) Women seem to get more physical symptoms than men do, yet women live longer. Research suggests that men die younger, and they have less contact with a health care professional. They are less likely to have seen a doctor, probably have fewer admissions to the hospital and are less likely to have a general health check. (Ogden, 2017) However there are reasons for these gender

(Ogden, 2017) Both genders have different beliefs regarding their health which then influences their behaviors. (Ogden, 2017) Risk perception in men is generally low than in women. Men believe that they are less at risk from illness, injuries, smoking, drug and alcohol use. (Ogden, 2017) Men rate the risks of dangerous driving as less than what women rate it. Men at times perceive that they have less control over situations concerning their health than women. (Ogden, 2017) This is one of the reasons why men behave in less healthy ways than women. (Ogden, 2017) Even though men die younger than women and tend to seek help later on in their illness, research shows that men perceive their health status as higher than what women rate theirs. (Ogden, 2017) What each person perceives is then translated into their behaviors and these behaviors are one of the reasons there are gender