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From Russia to Rwanda, women live longer than men and have done so for over 100 years. But why? Is it encoded in our genes or is it something to do with the way we live? This is something CrowdScience listener Michelle from England has been wondering about.\\n \\nFrom cradle to grave, Marnie Chesterton examines the complex web of factors that are involved in how men and women age differently. It seems that, right from the word go, male embryos are already in the firing line because of their genetics. Marnie hears how women\\u2019s genetics are configured so that they have a backup copy of some of their genes, whereas men only have one copy. Not only does this make male embryos less resilient (and therefore more likely to miscarry), men are also at risk of a set of genetic diseases later in life like haemophilia.\\n \\nPuberty is an important component in this story too when a surge of hormones changes girls' and boys\\u2019 bodies into adults. But something in the way a boy develops sets them up for diseases late in life. They may be fitter, faster and stronger - all traits that were evolutionary important to make a man the alpha of the group - but this comes at a cost. For instance, the way that a man\\u2019s cardiovascular system is \\u2018configured\\u2019 means that they\\u2019re far more likely to have a heart attack than women. But it\\u2019s not just this, behaviour is also a really important factor and it\\u2019s why the gender gap in mortality differs from country to country. In Russia, the gap is nearly 13 years (the highest in the world) and it\\u2019s thought that a culture of heavy drinking and smoking is why women outlive men by more than a decade.
...which got Marnie thinking - could men change their destiny and outlive women?\\n \\nPresenter: Marnie Chesterton\\nProducer: Graihagh Jackson
(Photo: A group of ladies having coffee in modern caf\\xe9. Credit: Getty Images)
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