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Not only from a physical point of view, in fact several diseases that attack men and women also have different effects. Yes, the effects of chronic disease affecting men and women can be very different. This can also affect the severity of the chronic illness you have. So, what types of diseases have different ways of working and affecting women and men?
Various chronic diseases
1. Stroke
Data from the Indonesian Ministry of Health shows that around 8 out of 1000 Indonesians have a stroke. In fact, every seven people who die, then one of them is due to this chronic disease. Generally, the risk factors for stroke do not differ between women and men.
It's just that, there are a number of factors that happen to women, but not experienced by men. For example, such as consumption of birth control pills, pregnancy, use of hormone replacement therapy, to accumulation of fat in the waist. These reasons strengthen why most cases of stroke affect women compared to men.
2. Heart disease
According to the sample registration system (SIRS) survey data, heart disease is in the top rank as one of the leading causes of death in Indonesia after stroke. However, men have a higher risk of developing heart disease at a young age than women.
Heart disease in women usually appears more slowly due to the protective effect of the hormone estrogen. This hormone can maintain cholesterol levels in women, thereby reducing the main risk factor for heart disease. Differences in body shape are also the next determining factor.
Women generally have a pear-shaped body, with a lot of fat accumulation in the hips and thighs. While men often have a body shape like an apple, so that a lot of fat accumulates in the midsection. This is why the risk of heart disease in men is greater.
Mehran Movassaghi MD, a urologist and men's health specialist at Providence Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California, also adds to this. According to him, postmenopausal women usually experience abnormal changes in the shape of the heart muscle, which is known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy. This condition is certainly less likely for men to experience because they do not get menopause.
3. Osteoporosis
As you probably already know, osteoporosis is a chronic disease affecting men and women in the elderly group. However, did you know that women have a greater risk than men? This is because the hormone estrogen, which has a protective effect on bone density, will gradually decrease when entering menopause.
As a result, bones lose density, which makes them brittle, says Michael Guma, DO, a rheumatologist in North Arlington, New Jersey. In addition, the bone structure of women who are smaller than men is also a factor in other causes of osteoporosis.
4. Diabetes
A chronic disease that affects men and women differently is diabetes. Quoting from the News One page, the results of basic health research (Riskesdas) in 2013 showed that the risk of obesity was more common in women than men.
Indirectly, the increased incidence of obesity in women also contributes to the increased risk of women experiencing diabetes mellitus.
5. Skin cancer
Skin cancer can actually be experienced by all age groups and genders. Even so, men turned out to be twice as likely to experience this chronic disease than women.
According to Jerome Garden, M.D, as director of the Physicians Laser and Dermatology Institute in Chicago, United States, men are more often in the sun for long periods of time. Either to work or do other activities.
Moreover, men tend not to be indifferent to the use of sunscreen or other skin protective equipment. In contrast to women who are more active in doing this treatment for the sake of getting the skin of your dreams. The location of skin cancer attacks in men and women is also different. The head and ears are some of the targets for skin cancer in men, while women are more likely to get it in the legs.
