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Smoking kills more men

01/19/2011 13:16:00 admin
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Why do women live longer than men in Europe?

A recent study published online in Tobacco Control  says smoking may account for 40 to 60 percent of the gender gap in death rates.

Scientists used World Health Organization figures on death rates among men and women to sort out factors in 30 European countries.

Deaths from all causes were higher for men than for women.
Causes of death related to smoking included respiratory tract cancers, coronary artery disease, stroke and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Eastern European countries have a gender gap of more than 400 per 100,000.  Spain, France, Finland, Belgium, and Portugal had the widest gaps.

The difference was obvious in both countries ranging from 188 per 100,000 of the population a year like Iceland,  to 942 per 100,000 in the Ukraine.

"Profound changes in the population level of smoking and in the magnitude of the gender gap in smoking should contribute to smaller gender differences in mortality in the coming decades.",  the authors said.

Deaths related to alcohol were particularly high among men in Eastern European countries.
Overall, death rate attributed to alcohol ranged from 20 to 30 percent.

Compared to the impact of smoking, that is significantly lower.

Causes of alcohol-related deaths included throat and gullet cancer, chronic liver disease,  as well as alcoholic psychosis and violence.

Study participants were also from Greece, Malta, and Cyprus, besides the several Western and Eastern European counties mentioned.

Russia and Scandinavian were excluded.

Stephen Lau and editing by Aimee Keenan-Greene
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