Medicine: The Stronger Sex

Men are healthier than women, in the sense that they complain of fewer illnesses and stay home from work less often. But women are hardier and live longer. Dr. Lawrence E. Hinkle Jr., 41, reporting this seemingly contradictory finding (by a New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center research team), explains it thus: women have fewer of the serious disorders (notably heart and artery diseases) that kill men in their prime.

To get their data, the researchers combed the medical histories of 96 New York Telephone Co. switchboard operators and 116 craftsmen (linemen and installation workers) for 20 years back, then followed the cases for five years more. In that quarter-century, the women averaged 64 illnesses, with 313 days lost from work, v. the men’s 37 illnesses and 124 days lost. Menstrual disturbances could not explain this huge difference; they accounted for less than one-fourteenth of female illness. In fact, the same types of illness—respiratory infections, stomach upsets, muscle pains and skin conditions —explained most of the absenteeism of both sexes. Surprisingly, sheltered operators went to the doctor more often for cuts and bruises than did linemen.

Why the difference? Women, suggested Dr. Hinkle, meet less disapproval if they go to a doctor or take to bed when they feel ill. “Thus,” he added, “the tendency of the American male to ‘carry on, no matter what’ may have something to do with the fact that women live longer.”