Are women really the weaker sex? The intriguing medical facts that settle the oldest argument of all


Last updated at 20:34 28 April 2008

Which is the weaker sex? It's a long-running argument - men point to women's weaker physical strength, while women are likely to mutter about 'man' flu. But who is better built to withstand disease? LOWRI TURNER asked a panel of medical experts to settle the matter once and for all ....


The two most common forms of cancer to affect both men and women are colo-rectal and lung cancer. More men than women suffer from both.

When it comes to colo-rectal cancer, diet and lifestyle play a role, but, says Lucy Boyd, an epidemiologist at Cancer Research UK, 'there could be a hormonal factor'.

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Are women really the weaker sex?

Oldest argument: A panel of medical experts try to determine whether women really are the weakest sex

Not only are women less likely to get colorectal cancer - around 55 men per 100,000 men are affected, compared with 35 women - but women who have taken the combined Pill or HRT are even less likely. The Pill and HRT both contain oestrogen.

'Oestrogen is protective against bowel cancer,' Boyd explains. The theory is that oestrogen has an effect on insulin. Being overweight puts you at greater risk of colorectal cancer, possibly because the body produces more insulin.

However, overweight women are not as at risk as overweight men, and that's possibly because the oestrogen 'cancels out some of the effect', says Boyd. As for lung cancer, men are at greater risk simply because they have tended to smoke more than women.

Weaker sex: MEN


The male skeleton is bigger and gives them an inherent advantage - larger bones are generally stronger,' says endocrinologist Professor Ignac Fogelman, a consultant physician in nuclear medicine at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Trust. Stronger bones mean fewer breaks.

Men also benefit because they don't experience the menopause, which can cause sudden loss in bone density as a result of oestrogen levels dropping.

That is not to say men don't suffer bone loss as they age, but because they start with more bone, they can afford to lose a bit, says the National Osteoperosis Society.

Professor Fogelman adds: 'Men do get osteoporosis, but it is usually to do with genetic factors, long-term use of corticosteroids, alcoholism or unknown factors.'

Men also tend not to suffer from broken hips in old age. Breaking a hip is dangerous: one in ten patients dies within a month, a quarter within six months. 'The most common fracture in those over 80, the hip fracture, is relatively uncommon in men,' says Fogelman. 'Men don't live long enough.'

Women also lose out with osteoarthritis. According to the Arthritis Research Campaign, twice as many women as men get osteoarthritis in their hands and four times as many women as men get it in their knees. The genders are equal only when it comes to osteorarthritis in their hips.

Osteoarthritis is caused by wear and tear - again, men are at an advantage because they start out with bigger, stronger bones which can take more punishment.

Weaker sex: WOMEN


Coronary heart disease is the biggest killer in the UK. True, more men get it - but it also affects millions of women (1.5 million men, compared with 1.1 million women). 'The perception is that it's a male disease,' says Judy O'Sullivan, cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation. 'Some women think it doesn't matter if they are 38, smoke 20 a day and are five stone overweight. They think they won't get a heart attack, but they do.'

However, women have one advantage: it's that female hormone oestrogen again, which this time has a cardio-protective effect. 'The mechanism is not fully understood,' explains O'Sullivan. Pre-menopausal women do get heart attacks, but most female heart disease occurs after the menopause, when a woman's oestrogen level declines.

Weaker sex: MEN


There has been a lot of controversy in the sports world about whether men's apparent physical advantage is on the wane. A look at the bulging muscles sported by some female Wimbledon champions proves that female sportswomen aren't the delicate flowers they once were - some experts have argued that women will eventually equal men's speed and strength.

But the fact is that men generally have bigger, stronger muscles. As Harry Brennan, an exercise physiologist at the Institute of Sport, says: 'There was a period in the Seventies when women equalled or broke more world records than men, but that was before the fall of the Berlin Wall.'

In other words, this was the era when Eastern Bloc coaches were feeding female athletes steroids like sweets.

'It now looks as if the gap is widening,' Brennan says. 'At a hormonal level, men have 10 per cent more testosterone.' Testosterone helps the body lay down more muscle. 'This is why men tend to be more muscly,' explains Brennan.

Still, if men are stronger, aren't women - with their smaller, lighter bodies - more agile? Apparently not. 'Agility depends upon the ability to decelerate and accelerate fast, and men - because of their larger muscles - will always have an advantage,' says Brennan.

But if men are stronger, faster and more agile, women are more flexible. 'Women's smaller muscle mass and joint geometry, and the difference in ligament structure, allows for more flexibility,' says Brennan. So, a woman could pick a dirty sock off the floor, no problem, while a man would have to bend. That's if he noticed the sock in the first place.

Weaker sex: WOMEN


Neither hearing nor sight loss is gender related, although as both tend to worsen with age, women report more of both because they live longer.

Weaker sex: NEITHER


Mental health is an area where men appear not to fare well. For a start, men are more than twice as likely to be affected by schizophrenia. 'Up to 40 per cent more men are diagnosed with schizophrenia than women - and their symptoms tend to be more severe and treatment less effective,' explains Jane Harris of the charity Rethink.

'There are lots of competing theories about what causes schizophrenia, but most experts think it is down to a combination of nature and nurture.'

There is evidence for a genetic link to schizophrenia, and it's thought certain behaviours may 'switch on' this gene or genes. As Harris says: 'Men are more likely to do things that put them at risk of developing schizophrenia - such as smoking cannabis. Medical research shows that heavy cannabis users are up to four times more likely to develop psychosis.'

Boys are also more likely to be diagnosed with the developmental conditions autism and Asperger's syndrome. The Autism Society says boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with the condition than girls.

This may be because they are exposed to higher levels of testosterone before birth, affecting their brain development, according to research by Professor Simon Baron-Cohen from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge.

But not all conditions affecting the brain are more concentrated in the male section of the population. 'Women get postnatal depression, and the menopause can be a trigger for depression,' says Marjorie Wallace, founder of mental health charity Sane. Depression is more common in women - one in four (three million) women will require treatment for depression at some time, compared with one in ten men.

This higher rate of depression means that, when it comes to mental health, more women are affected overall.

Weaker sex: WOMEN


Another intriguing difference between the sexes is in immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis and hypothyroidism.

'Women are three times as likely to get rheumatoid arthritis as men,' says Dr Annabel Bentley, Bupa's assistant medical director (around 375,000 women have the disease, compared with 125,000 men).

One theory is that there is a hormonal link. 'Rheumatoid arthritis tends to improve during pregnancy, although the mechanism is unknown,' says Bentley.

Weaker sex: WOMEN


Overall, when you add up the number of individuals affected by all these conditions, women are the weaker sex.


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