Body Talk: Why It Really IS Different for Girls.. And Boys ; WE ALL KNOW WE’RE NOT FROM THE SAME PLANET. BUT DID YOU KNOW THAT MEN AND WOMEN ARE PRONE TO DIFFERENT HEALTH PROBLEMS? HERE’s HOW TO FIGHT OFF THE GENDER ILLNESSES THAT MIGHT STRIKE YOU. BY HEL

IF YOU’RE A WOMAN YOU..

..are up to three times as prone to depression

Low levels of the hormone serotonin are linked to depression – and research shows that men produce 52 per cent more of it than women, says Lorraine Perretta of the Brain Bio Centre: “We just do fewer things that help us produce it – we exercise less and we eat less essential fats and carbohydrates.”

PROTECTION TIP: Exercise – it’s the first-line treatment for depression as it boosts serotonin. Even a 15-minute walk has benefits.

..have double the risk of gallstones

Gallstones are clumps of cholesterol that form in the bile in the gallbladder. “And women suffer more because their bile composition differs from men’s,” says Dr Marianne Legato, author of Eve’s Rib: The Groundbreaking Guide To Women’s Health. Put simply, oestrogen and progesterone increase the amount of cholesterol in the bile of a woman. This, combined with the fact that the female gallbladder empties less often, increases risk of cholesterol build-up.

PROTECTION TIP: Take fish oil supplements. Research at Johns Hopkins University in the US found three capsules a day reduce the body’s ability to form gallstones.

..are more likely to catch STIs

American research reveals that women are twice as likely to catch a sexually transmitted infection like chlamydia from a male partner as he is from her – and ten times more likely to catch HIV. “The vagina walls are easily damaged. This, combined with the fact that semen sits in the vagina, increases risk of infection,” says Angela Reynolds of the Family Planning Association.

PROTECTION TIP: Use a condom, especially as a woman is seven times more likely than a man to tell her partner she has an STI.

..feel more pain

Oestrogen potentially increases the number of nerves affected by a painful stimulus but the female brain also reacts differently to pain. While men feel it in the analytical part of their brain, women feel it in the emotional part, which may be harder to forget about.

PROTECTION TIP: Get treatment quickly. “If a woman suffers pain at a time when her hormones make her sensitive, she can become hypersensitised and develop chronic pain even after the stimulus is gone,” says Dr Legato.

..are 100x more vulnerable to cystitis

So says Professor Anders Barheim of the University of Bergen in Norway. This happens because the urethra and anus are a lot closer together in women – making it easier for e-coli bacteria, which lives in the bowel, to move from one to the other.

PROTECTION TIP: Always wipe your bottom from front to back. Cranberry juice stops the e-coli bugs attaching themselves to the urethra wall.

..and may be more prone to lung cancer

The jury’s still out, but studies suggest women smokers may be twice as likely to develop lung cancer as men. According to Dr Jyoti Patel of Northwestern University, women smokers have more DNA damage in their cells than males – possibly because oestrogen stops the body detoxing as many carcinogens as men.

PROTECTION TIP: Quit – after 10 years, your risk of lung cancer will be half that of a smoker, and will keep falling.

IF YOU’RE A MAN YOU..

..are more at risk of bladder cancer

Almost 5,000 men develop this every year compared to 2,866 women. While in some cases exposure to industrial chemicals explains this – “another explanation is that men are more likely to smoke,” says Dr Lesley Walker from Cancer Research UK. “The carcinogens in cigarettes can be measured in urine and it’s believed they trigger cell damage in the bladder while they’re waiting to be passed out.”

PROTECTION TIP: Again, you need to quit – but also drink 1.5 litres of water a day. Men who do this have a 51 per cent lower risk of bladder cancer, possibly because any potential carcinogens are flushed through the system more quickly.

..have a 50 per cent higher risk of Parkinson’s Disease

That’s according to neuro- biologist Dr Fred Wooten at the University of Virginia School of Medicine who suggests genes may be to blame. The genetic mutation believed to trigger Parkinson’s is found on the X chromosome. Because women have two X chromosomes, a problem with one of them doesn’t always cause harm, but as men only have one, problems are more likely to come to light.

PROTECTION TIP: Drink coffee – men on three cups a day are five times less likely to develop Parkinson’s, possibly because caffeine increases levels of dopamine in the brain (a fall in which triggers Parkinson’s symptoms).

..may want to check your breath

Four out of five dentists say men are more prone to bad breath than women. Biologically this shouldn’t be so as men produce twice as much plaque-fighting saliva as women. “Men’s problems are down to two things – they don’t clean their teeth as often, and only 25 per cent of the patients at the average dentist are male, meaning they have higher risk of gum disease,” says Dr Phil Stemmer at the Fresh Breath Centre.

PROTECTION TIP: Step up your dental hygiene. Brush twice a day, floss twice a day, get dental check-ups once a year

..are more likely to go deaf

By the age of 60, 253 men in every 1,000 have problems with hearing loss, compared to just 132 women. “And it increases as men age,” says Professor Adrian Davis, director of the Medical Research Council Hearing and Communication Group at the University of Manchester. “The main reason is that men are more likely to be exposed to higher noise levels through their work but it’s also possible that there are risk factors we don’t know about like excess alcohol or a genetic predisposition.”

PROTECTION TIP: Keep the noise down. Also, pop some periwinkle – a substance called vinpocetine, extracted from the flower, helps strengthen the inside of the ear (try Higher Nature, pounds 6.90 for 30; call 01435 884 668).

..are more prone to unusual headaches

Cluster headaches – sudden intense bursts of pain that occur for a few days/weeks then stop – are almost exclusively suffered by men (85 per cent of sufferers are male). “Why is a mystery, a hormonal link keeps being suspected but no one can prove it – the only thing we do know is that sufferers are either very heavy smokers or exposed to high levels of smoke – and that’s more common in men than women,” says Dr Anne McGregor of the City of London Migraine Clinic. Men are also three times more likely to suffer headaches at orgasm than women.

PROTECTION TIP: Cluster headaches are too unpredictable to prevent (although inhaling oxygen reduces severity of attacks). As for a sex headache, taking intercourse more slowly seems to help things, possibly as it prevents sudden dilation of the blood vessels that trigger pain.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ILLNESSES

Some problems attack both sexes pretty much equally, though…

HEART DISEASE: In 2002, 77,567 men and 73,457 women died of heart disease. Men do get it earlier, but it’s still responsible for four times more deaths in women than breast cancer.

FERTILITY PROBLEMS: 40 per cent of cases of infertility in couples are caused by male problems, 40 per cent are caused by female problems, while 10 per cent involve both partners (the other 10 per cent can’t be explained).

HAYFEVER: According to Mintel, 18 per cent of men and 20 per cent of British women use hayfever remedies, suggesting both sexes sniffle equally.

ASTHMA: 2.25 million women and 2.85 million men are asthmatic. And a partner who marries an asthmatic is 69 per cent more likely to suffer themselves (possibly because they become exposed to similar allergens).

STROKE: Around 7,000 men and 6,000 women under 74 die of stroke each year. Women suffer more past 75 but that’s mainly because more women live to be over 75.

DIABETES: There are 935,000 male diabetics in the UK (both insulin-dependent and non-insulin dependent) and 832,000 women.