The battle of the sexes-who wins?

While we morph into a society with a multitude of gender choices if we’re going to nominate a winner when it comes to the more traditional male, female dichotomy there can only be one gold medalist.  Women live longer than men and a large majority of centenarians are women. There are a host of reasons for this.  Women have longer telomeres, bits of genetic material that promote longevity, have stronger antioxidant defences, a more resilient immune system and have less cholesterol obstructing the blood vessels that sustain the heart.  This is all because of the hormone oestrogen.  In men testosterone is less immune savvy, doesn’t prime antioxidant firepower as much as oestrogen and has a complex relationship with heart health.  Unlike oestrogen’s unequivocal benefits research shows that testosterone may or may not be good for the heart.  As we make less of these hormones as we age women might look to augmenting their stocks.  Men might need to tread more wearily.