Japan ranks first for women's longevity

For now.

This, of course, does not account for this years contamination of a Japan from Fukushima. This record will not stand for much longer as TEPCO has ruined this beautiful nation.

Well, this news is good and bad. Good part is obvious.

Bad part is it is time to renew those mortality tables, social security computations, and retirement age.

That's because Japanese women lived a stressfree life drinking green tea with friends and going to hot springs.

I've seen other figures which rank Japan behind Australia for men's life expectancy. I guess it depends on which statistician you use.

But it also shows that you can get old in Europe (France) so probably also if you live around there but not in France. In France it's popular that women are working just like everyone else.

takes it out of you prancing around Takashimaya all day

I've seen other figures which rank Japan behind Australia for men's life expectancy. I guess it depends on which statistician you use.

True. A couple of other sources ie CIA World Factbook 2011 ranks Aust. higher - 79.4 versus Jap. - 78.96. The only nations that seem to rank above Aus and Jap. are the small nations like San Marino, Andorra, Monaco - where women's life expectancy is 93.84! Wonder what their secret to log-life is?!

@BurkaminDes,Note that most of the people in those small countries are rich enough not to work. Okinawans and Greeks have relaxed lifestyles too.

Longevity, yes, but what about Quality of Life?

Interesting that the highest countries also have some of the highest infidelity rates in the world.....might just be coincidence, but.....??!

I think in France`s case, it also helps that their medical sytem is far and away the best in Europe. They always rank in the top for cancer survival rates, preventative medicine, and so on.

In Japan`s case, yeah, I think green tea, onsens and Takashimaya have a lot to do with it!

Are these figures including those people that have been dead for decades and whose families have not reported it and still pulling out their pensions? Serious question as if the numbers are as high as some were reporting, it could distort the figures a fair bit.

Women have longer lifespans on average all over the world. There's a multitude of reasons.

Females are biologically stronger than males to start off with. (More male babies are conceived than female, but by the time they reach adulthood the numbers are more or less even - more boys succumb to childhood diseases.)

Males are more likely to die violently, whether it's in a brawl outside the pub or in some kind of military service. Also more likely to be murdered. Males also tend to go in for more dangerous hobbies and pastimes, and to think that games of chicken are fun. And to opt for more dangerous jobs.

Males tend to eat what they want rather than what's good for them, to drink more, smoke, etc.

Once a male retires and starts on his 'second life' sitting on his bottom in front of the telly while his wife waits on him hand and foot, the sudden drastic change in lifestyle and lack of physical and mental stimulation are more likely to send him on a downward spiral than his wife, who still has the house to run, friends to meet, etc - a life worth living.

So boys, if you want to live longer - search for your feminine side. :-)

Who wants to live so long?

It sounds good on paper but the reality for many of these Japanese obaachans is different.

It's a life of gradually becoming immobile, being a terrible burden on relatives, the humiliation of having nappies (diapers) changed, succumbing to disease, losing one's marbles, watching one's own children die before you, being carted from the home to the daycare center, being treated like a child, etc etc

I know one old obaachan who has watched both her son's die in recent years, she couldn't be more miserable. Her favorite saying is "I'm ready to die at any time"...

We all like to think about how spry and genki old people are, but let's look at the reality instead.

@choiwaruoyaji I'm with you on this one. I've seen so many eldery who're all nuts. Talking out loud to themselves. etc etc. Not only that but you get more of these freeloaders on the public transport system.

Cleo, All those factors you mention are true but one overrides all others. The major part of the difference in life expectancy between men and women is a result of the simple fact that men smoke more.

Interesting that Hong Kong's is so high. I've had a wide range of food the few times I went from 家庭料理 to restaurant food and I never felt it was particularly healthy.

The major part of the difference in life expectancy between men and women is a result of the simple fact that men smoke more.

not really, men make the most in their lives early and depart early. I'll also try and help women so that they always have an edge over men so far life expectancy is concerned.

Longevity, yes, but what about Quality of Life?

wanderlust, you took the words right off my fingertips.

Oh, statistics! The average life expectancy of ethnic Chinese woman in the USA is over 86.

The US always ranks low in comparison to other countries because these surveys do not control for genetic conditions so the US with many people who suffer from sickle-cell anaemia (1 in 5000) has a much lower average life expectancy as in the US the average life expectancy of a woman born today with sickle-cell anaemia is about 45, quite a drag on the national average.

Both Japan and Hong Kong have extremely low or no instances of sickle-cell anaemia.

To me it sure looks like France with a considerable population originating from sub-Saharan Africa, is the clear winner here!

reminds me of the old joke

Why do men die before their wives?

Beacause we WANT to!

That likely answers most of the reason!

The US always ranks low in comparison to other countries because these surveys do not control for genetic conditions so the US with many people who suffer from sickle-cell anaemia (1 in 5000) has a much lower average life expectancy as in the US the average life expectancy of a woman born today with sickle-cell anaemia is about 45, quite a drag on the national average.

Actually such a low percentage of the population with a disease isn't much of a drag on the national average at all. The average life expectancy for an American female is 80.8, so removing the 1/5000 with a life expectancy of 45 only increases the average life expectancy to 80.81.

Similarly even a major amount of cases of Fukushima-related cancer mortality is likely to make little significant impact on the overall statistical life expectancy for the Japanese population.

Japan ranked fourth in men’s longevity below Hong Kong at 80.0 years, Switzerland at 79.8 years and Israel at 79.7 years.

A wide variety of climate and topography there. What do they have in common? Top four for longevity are all capitalist nations; 2 of them in the top five of the index of economic freedom (HK is number 1), Japan at 20th on that list and Israel 43rd.

@Goals0

Not disagreeing with you, but do you have any stats to show that male longevity was was on a par with female longevity before the discovery of tobacco? I haven't been able to find anything. Actually with the horrendous mortality of women in childbirth prior to modern medicine, you'd think historically the males would have the advantage. Maybe that's why we invented war, to keep the numbers even.

The trouble with longevity is that it gets tacked on to the end, not when it would be useful. That extra five years, you get it when you're 80, not when you're 25.

The US always ranks low in comparison to other countries because these surveys do not control for genetic conditions

Irony is the lion's share of the medical advances that lengthened lives around the globe have come from the US, though with the destruction ObamaCare will bring to our economy those days well may be drawing to an end.

These women are housewives and people of the bubble era.

The generation of today will get health relates problems from Fukushima.

Women usually want to live longer too just to annoy their husbands. They win every argument and then beat them at living.

Seriously though, japanese might live longer but a lot of them that I see in hospitals just seem to keep hanging on. And the ones at home get to just watch TV and wait on their daughters (or daughter-in-laws) for their round the clock meals.

iow, I'm not sure the last 3-5 years of their lives is worth winning the world longevity olympic gold medal.

"The trouble with longevity is that it gets tacked on to the end, not when it would be useful. That extra five years, you get it when you're 80, not when you're 25."

i'll remember to think about that the next time I am doing zen meditation.

japanese woman is the strongest human in the world

Ceo, don't forget:

Men do all the dangerous, life-shortening, suicide-inducing slavery-like jobs. Well over 90% of on-the-job deaths are male, as are on-the-job injuries, work-related suicides, and jobs that require more than 1,000 hours of annual overtime, the standard for the karoshi danger zone.

People argue that housewives work just as hard. Parenting isn't the easiest job in the world, not by a long shot, but it's a lot more psychologically rewarding and fulfliing than slaving away for a corporate boss all through the best years of your life. I'd choose full-time fatherhood over company work any time.

I'm happy to see people living longer, but we need to start doing more for men's health. Women enjoy a retirement that's nearly 50% longer than that of the average man (21.39 years vs. 14.64 years), despite paying in the same premiums. I want to see more done to improve the lives of Japan's belaeguered salarymen until they too are living more than 86 years on average.

Oops, that should be addressed to "Cleo", and my "5." turned into a "1."; I wanted to make addition to her four items!

Irony is the lion's share of the medical advances that lengthened lives around the globe have come from the US, though with the destruction ObamaCare will bring to our economy those days well may be drawing to an end.

Riiiight.

Irony is the lion's share of the medical advances that lengthened lives around the globe have come from the US, though with the destruction ObamaCare will bring to our economy those days well may be drawing to an end.

Riiiight.

Sure as if 50 million uninsured people in the US helps improve the longevity stats there. Conservatives live in a tiny magic bubble. The fact that Japan has universal health care contributes to the better health outcomes than in the screwed up mess that is healthcare in the US that Obama is fixing.

Despite the undoubted existence of gender discrimination in Japan, one has to give the Japanese people credit for having never accepted or absorbed the belief, widely held throughout the rest of Asia, that the birth of a baby girl is a curse on one's household. Average life expectancy at birth for females in other Asian countries is often shorter because those females tend to be neglected and mistreated in childhood. Again, good thing these attitudes never really penetrated to the core of Japanese society.

ThonTaddeo - I did mention dangerous jobs under 2., but you're right, it's not only that men are more likely to have dangerous jobs, they're also more susceptible to overwork and stress-related problems including suicide.

And I agree 220% with the view that full-time parenting is the most psychologically rewarding job on the planet. If reincarnation were on the cards, I wouldn't want to come back as a man.

I see a lot of people here complaining about old people in hospitals hanging on to life. So what do you expect them to do? Die off? Or do you want to put a pillow over their face and let them die a nice white christian death

Cleo,

These are US statistics.

In 1900, life expectancy for men was 49.7 years and for women 50.9 years. But by the middle of the century, men could now be expected to live to 65.6 years of age and 71.7 years for women. The increase for women, according to Dr. Crose, was due to women getting into holistic health and balancing their lives while men stayed in the "same old macho" roles. But in fact because of men smoking, a major part of the macho role? (Now if only we could convince men that spitting is as pernicious!)

Life expectancy is going to rise in the US from now as result of the decline in smoking. But of course there's a lag in this of 20 to 30 years.

Goals0, thanks. So in 1900 male and female lifespans were roughly equal, both increased in the 20th century but the gap widened in favour of women.

Questions remain - When did smoking become popular enough to pose a health hazard? What other factors influenced male mortality in the 20th century? (Two world wars, Korea, Vietnam etc come to mind). How much of the gain for women was due to them generally taking better care of themselves, and how much was due to the drastic drop in maternal mortality, brought on by better nutrition, better hygiene, medical care, the trend to give birth in a hospital rather than at home attended by a midwife?

I'm sure smoking does play a major role in premature male death, but I think the overall picture is much more complicated, for males and females.

As you know, the devil is in the details. Some people point to the fact that Japanese had a high smoking rate in the early 1960s but low cancer rates. However when you look at the number of cigarettes consumed per person it was quite few.

The First World War had an important part to play in the story.

•1917-18: US JOINS WORLD WAR I Cigarette rations determined by market share, a great boost to Camel, which had over a third of the domestic market. •Virtually an entire generation return from the war addicted to cigarettes. •Turkish leaf is unavailable; American tobacco farmers get up to 70 cents/pound. •Those opposed to sending cigarettes to the doughboys are accused of being traitors. According to General John J. Pershing: ◦You ask me what we need to win this war. I answer tobacco as much as bullets. ◦Tobacco is as indispensable as the daily ration; we must have thousands of tons without delay.

BTW Obesity in the US will in time impact hugely on mortality, but after the effects of smoking rate decline.

zurcronium

Sure as if 50 million uninsured people in the US helps improve the longevity stats there.

Can you explain for us how adding 50 million new patients to a taxpayer subsidized health care system - - when the government is not allowing any significant increase in the number of doctors (and many are scaling back their practices, because of ObamaCare) - - is going to result in an overall improvement in the health and well-being of average Americans?

I would be most eager to know by what sort of logic and economic calculation you arrived at your conclusion.

Can you explain for us how adding 50 million new patients to a taxpayer subsidized health care system... is going to result in an overall improvement in the health and well-being of average Americans?

This is completely obvious. You will have 1/6 of the population who have access to adequate health care for the first time. This includes preventative care - people will able to live healthier, longer lives than they do currently. The other 5/6 will also have access to adequate health care but be able to pay for a different standard of care should they choose.

Only in the US on the right is this even slightly controversial.

pawatan

You will have 1/6 of the population who have access to adequate health care for the first time.

LOL. Yeah, for the first time in their lives they will have access to medical care. I notice you completely avoid the prospect of huge numbers of practicing doctors scaling back their practices or even taking early retirement directly because of ObamaCare.

Only in the US on the right is this even slightly controversial.

Oh, having lived in and adjacent to border states with hospitals flooded by Canadians who pay cash for day operations I can assure you it is hardly as you imagine.

the prospect of huge numbers of practicing doctors scaling back their practices or even taking early retirement directly because of ObamaCare

How odd that the right-wingers have a crystal ball and can see the future.

the prospect of huge numbers of practicing doctors scaling back their practices or even taking early retirement directly because of ObamaCare.

Sorry, I genuinely don't understand. How would having more people able to afford medical care so that they can receive preventative care instead of having to wait until they're eligible for free treatment in ER, cause doctors to scale back their practices or take early retirement?

Sorry, I genuinely don't understand. How would having more people able to afford medical care so that they can receive preventative care instead of having to wait until they're eligible for free treatment in ER, cause doctors to scale back their practices or take early retirement?

In the goofy right wing mind they think that increased regulation and limits on fees because of insurance will cause a mass exodus from the medical professions.

Of course having more people with access to routine preventative care will REDUCE costs in the long run.