Statistics show that the most common cause of death in males is heart disease. But will this hold true when breaking down the data by age or ethnicity?
Men’s health lags significantly behind women’s health, not just in the public eye, but also as a focus for the medical profession.
Do males die sooner than females? And is a Black male likely to die from the same cause as a White male?
In a Special Feature article, we explore the leading health risks in males and delve deeper into the data, breaking it down into relevant sections by age and ethnicity.
We also explore why research into men’s health should include males from all walks to life.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is the top killer when analyzing data from males of all age groups and ethnicities in a large 2017 data set for the United States. Nearly one-quarter of death in males is due to heart disease.
But, to understand the full picture, it makes more sense to look at the data broken down by age or ethnicity, as this changes the landscape quite significantly.
While heart disease may be the most common reason for death in all males taken together, accidents occupy the top spot for those under 45 years of age. In males between the ages of 45 and 85, it is cancer. Once men reach 85 years old, heart disease is the most common cause of death.
In males under 45 years, suicide is the second most common reason for death, while in males between the ages of 45 and 64, it is the sixth most common reason.
In males over 65 years, suicide is not one of the 10 most common reasons.
The third most common cause of death in males under 20 years of age is homicide. Between the ages of 20 and 44, homicide is in fourth position, while it drops out of the list of the top 10 in males over 45 years.
When breaking down the data by ethnicity, heart disease once again takes the top spot for males of all ages, with cancer coming in second position, except for Asian or Pacific Islanders where they are the other way around.
The leading causes of death in men in the United States, 2017. Source: CDC
The third most common cause of death is accidents in all males, except for Asian or Pacific Islanders, where it is stroke.
In position four, the reasons for dying become significantly more diverse. For all males taken together, as well as for white males as a subgroup, it is chronic lower respiratory diseases. For Black males, it is homicide, while for American Indian or Alaska Native males, it is diabetes, for Asian or Pacific Islander males, it is accidents, and for Hispanic males, it is stroke.
Suicide features in eighth position for Asian or Pacific Islander and white males, in sixth position for American Indian or Alaska Native males, and in seventh position for Hispanic males. It is not in the 10 most common reasons for death for Black males.
According to the CDC, 6 in 10 adults in the U.S. live with a chronic disease, and 4 in 10 live with two or more chronic diseases.
Chronic diseases pose a significant risk to health for all. The CDC state that lifestyle factors, such as smoking, alcohol, lack of exercise, and poor nutrition, are major risk factors for many chronic diseases.
The rate of smoking among all males is almost 16%. Yet, a data breakdown by the American Lung Association from 2015 shows that 13.1% Hispanic men smoke, while among other ethnic groups, the rates were 20.9% for Black men, 19% for Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native males, and 12% for Non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander males.
Nearly 31% of men over 18 years had five or more drinks at least once in