Developmental Biology : Old Age
With the reduction in maternal mortality, life expectancy at birth is greater for women than men by about 7 years, but after 65, the difference is only 2 to 3 years. As women increasingly adopt some of the same behavioral patterns of men, for example, increased smoking and drinking, this difference may change. A woman born today can expect to reach age 79, a 30-year increase since 1900. Today, one person in eight is over 65. By the year 2050, that number will approach one in five.59 The fastest growing population segment is the 85+ age group, in which women constitute the majority. Improved access to health care, advances in medicine, healthier lifestyles, and better health before age 65 are factors underlying decreased death rates among the elderly.
Resources: Women's Health Issues: An Overview Health and Aging Chartbook
With longevity, women experience more disabling health problems than men. The proportion of disabled women increases from 22 percent at age 70 to 81 percent at age 90; for men, from 15 percent to 57 percent.60 One in four women over age 65 has some form of heart disease. After age 50, women begin to develop, and die from, heart disease at a rate equal to that of men. Lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths among older women, followed by breast cancer. In 1997, almost 16 percent of AIDS cases reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were in women over the age of 50. Women represent more than 10 percent of all reported AIDS cases among those over age 45.61 These problems may be attributable to biological differences in sex and not just to longevity; however, this discrepancy seems to be narrowing.
From birth through old age, an individual's physical growth, motor skill development, and health result in part from his or her personal and societal environment, resources, and beliefs. These factors vary greatly throughout the world. Such influences include the extent to which a culture encourages certain aspects of development, such as early motor skills or later athletic abilities; physical appearance, such as being slender; knowledge and availability of nutrition; educational practices; or the regard in which women are held.
