Key points from article :
In the US, the average life expectancy for men is now almost six years shorter than that of women.
Overall life expectancy has also fallen in the US, from 78.8 years in 2019 to 76.1 years in 2021.
The gap between male and female life expectancy has been widening since 2010.
Men are disproportionately dying from COVID-19, drug overdoses, homicide, and suicide.
"Deaths of despair", including those due to alcohol abuse, suicide and drug overdoses, are the second-largest contributor to the life expectancy gap.
Exacerbated by cultural and social influences, which “suggests a gender component to the nation’s worsening mental health crisis”, says Brandon Yan at Harvard University.
One way to close the gap is to focus on reducing preventable deaths.
Study by Harvard University published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
