11 - Health and fitness

Question 1

Explain how being married is good for your health.

Answer 1

• Especially for men; Both men and women who are married tend to live longer than their single counterparts, though because of this extra support system
• Men benefit more than women, statistically. Possible reasons?
  → Wives are more likely to be a source of emotional support, and to encourage men to get their sick or injured selves to the doctor and get checked. They are also likely to encourage healthy living behaviours (though sometimes this gets made fun of as nagging)
  → women are more likely to seek medical help
  → Men are not as likely to provide emotional support to the same extent or to encourage women to seek health care, which might explain the slightly one-sided benefit

Question 2

True or false: Women live longer on average.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Rather than a biological basis, lifestyle factors may relate to the gender difference in men vs. women’s lifespan; explain how gender roles are strongly related to health risk factors.

Answer 3

→ Feminine role permits weakness and help-seeking
→ Women more likely to take care of themselves properly
→ We’re used to getting dragged to the doctor’s anyway (especially once they have kids, it’s usually the mothers and sisters and daughters who are taking people to a healthcare setting)
→ Women are less likely to have an accidental death

Question 4

What are the 3 leading causes of death in the US?

Answer 4

1) Cardiovascular disease
2) Cancer
3) Violent deaths

Question 5

How do death rates vary between men and women when it comes to Cardiovascular disease?

Answer 5

→ Similar death rates for men and women over the lifespan but men tend to die of CVD at younger ages, whereas overall more women than men die of CVD

Question 6

What are some risk factors for CVD?

Answer 6

• Gender biology? Unlikely since the gap changes over time and is not universal
• Lifestyle factors: smoking and high fat diets more common in men
• Treatment in the medical system: men with CVD symptoms are more likely to be referred for further testing and care. (Similarly, Black and native patients are less likely to have their symptoms taken as seriously as white patients, leaving women of colour in the worst position again.)
  → doctors will on average change how they analyze the situation if it isn’t a white male patient

Question 7

How do death rates vary between men and women when it comes to cancer?

Answer 7

• Gender differences exist in the various types of cancer (p.ex: testicular vs. ovarian)

Question 8

What are some risk factors for cancer?

Answer 8

• Cigarette smoking (30% of cancers), diet and exercise (35%), occupational exposure (dealing with toxic chemicals in jobs) (4%), and sexual behavior (HPV increases the risk for cervical cancer but having babies before 20 lowers the risk for breast cancer)
  → Relatively higher in men’s behaviors
  → Tends to increase their risk

Question 9

What are some characteristics about violent deaths?

Answer 9

• More common in the U.S. (guns) – about 6% of deaths in the US are violent ones
  → Accidental injuries 5th cause of death
  → Suicide 11th
  → Homicide 15th
• Differences in both gender and ethnic groups
  → Black men are more likely to be murdered than white men, but less likely to die in automobile crashes or commit suicide

Question 10

Why are women less likely to die of violent deaths?

Answer 10

• Lower rates of risky behaviors among women
  → E.g., drinking is a huge factor for violent deaths and men drink more and drink harder than women (though the gap is narrowing)
  → dangerous occupations are more commonly held by men still (90% of workplace fatalities involve men)
  → seatbelt use is more common in women
  → illegal activities – men are more likely to be the perpetrators as well as victims of violent crime than women
  → Women are more likely to attempt suicide, but men are more likely to succeed. Men tend to use more violent means (guns, jumping) women tend to OD, which leads to time to save them / have second thoughts

Question 11

Who between men and women meet the definitions of illness more often? (i.e. get sick more often)

Answer 11

• Women meet the definitions of illness more often than men do
  → And receive more medical care
  → Hence, greater morbidity, lower mortality

Question 12

What are the gender roles in health care?

Answer 12

• Male gender role
  → Sturdy Oak: strong and invulnerable, never show a sign of weakness like needing medical help with some wimpy little girly pneumonia
  → Less likely to show signs of physical illness
  → Less likely to seek medical care
• Female gender role
  → Allows/encourages weakness and vulnerability and seeking protection
  → Greater distress for symptoms
  → Increased readiness to seek medical care

Question 13

What are some gender differences seen when seeking health care?

Answer 13

• Men are more likely to avoid health care
  → (I don’t feel sick, I’m fine- hrrrgk!)
• Reproductive health care issues make it more difficult for women to do so
  → Try getting a prescription for the pill without also getting regular pap smears. Wait, you can’t.
• Men have health insurance more often than women do since women are more likely to have part time jobs that don’t include it. This makes women vulnerable to divorce because it could cost them their insurance, as well as the insurance of children if they are taken into full custody by the mother.
• Men see physiotherapists more often, women see chiropractors and nutritionists more often

Question 14

What are some gender differences when talking about taking on the “patient role”?

Answer 14

• More compatible with traditional female gender role
• Male health care providers and female patients tend to play into stereotypical gender roles
• Women are at a disadvantage giving or receiving care: their symptoms are more likely to be ignored or downplayed and as doctors their advice is less likely to be accepted
  → (Benrud 1998) Study showed doctors identical lists of symptoms from a hypothetical man or woman. Doctors saw women’s health problems as the result of relatively uncontrollable biological and emotional factors but judged men’s problems as the result of controllable behavioral and situational factors. So women get labelled as too emotional but men get blamed for causing their own problems (more likely to recommend useful activities for men to help)

Question 15

Why was the Office of Research on Women’s Health created? What is its role?

Answer 15

• For a long time, women were omitted from medical research, saying they had low rates for certain diseases and their hormonal variations would affect the action of the drugs
• This lead to the creation of the Office of Research on Women’s Health
• Created to address women’s health problems
• No comparable initiative addresses men’s health problems
  → Men are less likely to seek medical care but also less likely to advocate for it at the funding level
  → Prostate cancer just as deadly as breast cancer but funding is unequal

Question 16

How did reproductive health grow in the healthcare system?

Answer 16

• Became a part of the healthcare system during the 1800s and 1900s
• Decline in maternal and infant mortality as health sciences advanced and having doctors attend births became more common. Pregnancy also began to be considered a “high risk condition” and pregnant women now get regular checkups
• Women’s reproductive health also became a medical issue
  → New contraceptive technologies all focused on controlling women’s fertility (as opposed to men) which led to physicians controlling the prescriptions required for the contraceptives women (and men) wanted to use
  → Even menopause became a “disease” that could be “cured” with HRT
  → Women spend their entire lives having their reproductive system scrutinized and controlled by the medical system – dominated and regulated by men

Question 17

Name and briefly explain birth control methods (13)

Answer 17

1) Condoms – Prevents pregnancy and STD
2) Vasectomy – Minor surgery cutting the 2 vas deferes tubes
3) IUD – Intrauterine device, prevents embryos from implanting
4) Birth control – oral hormones prevent ovulation
5) Female condoms – Fits inside the vagina with a ring
6) Diaphragm – Fits inside the vagina, reusable for 2 years; uses spermicide
7) Cervical cap – Like diaphragm but made of rubber
8) Implants – Size of match implanted under the skin, prevents ovulation
9) Patch – Releases hormones into skin
10) Nuvaring – Like the pill but sits inside vagina
11) Sponge – Like a diaphragm or cervical cap
12) Depo-provera – Injection that eventually stops menstrual cycle
13) Plan B – Prevents implantation for up to 5 days

Question 18

Why aren’t more male birth control options available?

Answer 18

• A male birth control shot was created, and proved to be effective
• BUT, there were serious negative effects resulting from the shots included one case of depression and one experience of an abnormally fast and irregular heartbeat after the injections stopped. The researchers considered one intentional overdose of acetaminophen possibly related
• 20 men ended up dropping out early due to side effects
• However, female birth control has just as many side effects, notably depression, potential for fatal strokes and blood clots
• Since the shot was testosterone though, which is a stimulant thus makes men feel better, 75% of the men were willing to take it again
• The problem here is, men can’t get pregnant, thus for women it’s the debate between pregnancy and labor vs. a few potential side effects; but for men, there’s no real debate because they in no way need to be implicated if they get a woman pregnant; THUS, doctors can’t “justify” the risk of it for men

Question 19

Reproductive systems are common sites for ___ to develop in both men and women.

Answer 19

Cancer

Question 20

___ are more likely to have cancer detected early from routine screenings; ___ are more reluctant to get things checked.

Answer 20

Women; men

Question 21

What is the most common type of cancer in women?

Answer 21

Breast cancer
→ Lung cancer still kills the most people because of how hard it is to detect and treat.

Question 22

Explain the ways in which both gender roles carry health risks.

Answer 22

• Eating patterns start to change in adolescence. Men eat more. Women eat less, and eat less again when near attractive men: eating less is considered feminine. Men will eat more, and worse, if their masculinity has been threatened.
• Body image; While both genders have body image issues, women have more frequent and less obtainable images of what “pretty” is – and it is always thin
  –> Being slightly plump was once ideal but now it’s skinny. The male ideal also prohibits being overweight but is more focused on being muscular. This can lead to unhealthy eating habits and steroid use. “Dieting” is considered feminine but increasing numbers of men are dieting now, including unhealthy techniques

Question 23

What are the 2 main types of eating disorders? Give a brief description

Answer 23

1) Anorexia nervosa
- Self-starvation in pursuit of thinness
- Can be lethal: most deadly of all the psychiatric disorders, with between 5% and 15% of patients starving themselves to death
2) Bulimia
- Binge eating followed by purging (induced vomiting or excessive laxative use) to avoid gaining weight
- Slightly easier to treat because bulimics typically feel guilty about their disorder, but they may relapse

Question 24

Eating disorders are more common in…

Answer 24

Women, but men have them too
→ Most studies are done on women, and most symptom descriptions are based on observed symptoms in women, so eating disorders may be harder to spot in men

Question 25

What are some risk factors other than gender for eating disorders?

Answer 25

1) Age (Younger – puberty!)
2) Occupation (actors, performers, models, anything in the public eye)
→ p.ex: gymnast, ballet dancer, runners
3) Athletics (competitive sports, ballet, gymnastics, dance, swimming)
4) Sexual orientation (more common in gay boys and men, and trans people. Also, minority stress model.)

Question 26

What are some gender differences in exercise and fitness?

Answer 26

• Men are more likely to be active, partly because boys are more active than girls.
• Girls who play physically active games like boys do are more likely to be involved in sports at the college level
  –> Activity levels are relatively stable throughout the lifespan. Enjoyment is the best predictor of being active later in life.
• In adolescence boys get more active and girls less so, due in part to gender role conformity that is common at that age. (strong vs dainty, competitive vs supportive)
• Women are more likely to exercise to lose weight / tone than to have fun (boys exercise because they enjoy it). Anorexics frequently exercise obsessively, in both genders.

Question 27

Health and mortality figures are related to ___ around the world.

Answer 27

Ethnicity

Question 28

Life expectancy varies, depending on…

Answer 28

Economic development status
→ When people live longer, they die of chronic rather than infectious diseases.
→ In low-income countries the life expectancy is shortened by high infant and child mortality rates from parasites and infectious diseases

Question 29

Explain the concept of “son preference”.

Answer 29

Can lead to the murder of infant girls or the abortion of female fetuses, but more often is expressed via preferential treatment for sons, including better feeding and medical attention and the neglect of daughters