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 of life.
According to the
But, to understand the full picture, it makes more sense to look at the data broken down by
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.
| Rank | White | Black | American Indian or Alaska Native | Asian or Pacific Islander | Hispanic | All races and origins |
| 1 | Heart disease 24.7% | Heart disease 23.7% | Heart disease 19.4% | Cancer 24.8% | Heart disease 20.3% | Heart disease 24.2% |
| 2 | Cancer 22.4% | Cancer 20.2% | Cancer 16.4% | Heart disease 22.6% | Cancer 19.4% | Cancer 21.9% |
| 3 | Accidents 7.2% | Accidents 7.9% | Accidents 13.8% | Stroke 6.6% | Accidents 11.5% | Accidents 7.6% |
| 4 | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 5.9% | Homicide 5.0% | Diabetes 5.9% | Accidents 5.6% | Stroke 4.7% | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 5.2% |
| 5 | Stroke 4.1% | Stroke 4.9% | Chronic liver disease 5.3% | Diabetes 4.3% | Diabetes 4.7% | Stroke 4.3% |
| 6 | Alzheimer’s disease 2.9% | Diabetes 4.3% | Suicide 4.3% | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 3.2% | Chronic liver disease 4.0% | Diabetes 3.2% |
| 7 | Diabetes 2.8% | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 3.2% | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 4.2% | Influenza and pneumonia 3.1% | Suicide 2.9% | Alzheimer’s disease 2.6% |
| 8 | Suicide 2.7% | Kidney disease 2.6% | Stroke 3.1% | Suicide 2.7% | Chronic lower respiratory diseases 2.5% | Suicide 2.6% |
| 9 | Influenza and pneumonia 1.9% | Septicemia 1.7% | Homicide 1.9% | Alzheimer’s disease 2.1% | Homicide 2.4% | Influenza and pneumonia 1.8% |
| 10 | Chronic liver disease 1.7% | Hyper-tension 1.6% | Influenza and pneumonia 1.8% | Kidney disease 2.1% | Alzheimer’s disease 2.1% | Chronic liver disease 1.8% |
The leading causes of death in men in the United States, 2017. Source:
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.
Men’s health resources
For more research-backed information and resources, visit our dedicated men’s health hub.
According to the
Chronic diseases pose a significant risk to health for all. The
The rate of smoking among all males is almost
Nearly
Data from the 2018 National Health Interview Survey estimate that only 57.6% of all men reach the government’s recommended physical activity guidelines of at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate intensity or 75 minutes to 150 minutes vigorous intensity, aerobic, physical activity.
Across the U.S.,
According to the Office for Minority Health, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the life expectancy for Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander men was 77.7 years based on 2015 Census Bureau data.
It was 72.9 years for Black men, 74.7 years for American Indian or Alaska Native men; for Asian American men, it was 77.5 years, and 79.6 years for Hispanic men, while it was 77.5 years for white men.
Data from 2017 shows that life expectancy for males of all ethnicities taken together has dropped to
Research from 2019 shows that men’s health is underrepresented in biomedical research. When comparing published studies, the term “women’s health” was prevalent at nearly 10-fold that of the term “men’s health” from 1970 to 2018.
“[The] notions of ‘patriarchy’ and ‘male privilege’ are rampant in the media and in academic journals. These concepts, and the ethos surrounding them, are not only misguided, but they are likely detrimental to the health of men,” according to the study author. “They direct attention away from men’s health issues, and as generalizations, they do not accurately reflect the lives of many males.”
An international group of experts issued a Perspective article in the
Yet effective campaigns that seek to improve the health of men must be mindful of other societal inequities.
Prof. Derek Griffith, director at the Center for Men’s Health at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, wrote in a commentary in the
“While men’s health has continued to grow, as a field, the literature on men of color, men who are sexual or gender minorities, men who live in poverty, and men who are marginalized by other structural relationships or identities have largely remained invisible.”
Prof. Derek Griffith
“Men’s health can only be brought into the discussion of disparities through race, ethnicity, or sexual and gender minority status,” Prof. Griffith continued.
“Both from the perspective of defining who is worthy of attentional resources and attention and informing programmatic and policy interventions, it is time to reconsider these definitions to facilitate men of color and other marginalized men receiving the scientific attention necessary to improve their health and well-being.”
Medical News Today asked Prof. Griffith what he thinks drives differences in health outcomes between different groups of men, particularly males from different ethnic backgrounds and from other marginalized groups?
“The racial and ethnic differences in health among men are rooted in the same inequalities that help explain other health disparities,’ he said. “African American, Native American, Latinx, and other marginalized men face more chronic stress and have fewer individual or collective resources to manage those stressors than white men.”
Prof. Griffiths also shared his views on what researchers can do to unearth the reasons that underpin these differences.
“I think we have to stop reducing men’s health to masculinity. Yes, the way men think about what it means to be a man can be harmful to health, but it also can be positive,” he explained. “Often, men’s efforts to help provide for their families, be active and present fathers, be leaders in their faith-based organizations or in their communities, or be good role models are also ways for men to be men. Paradoxically, prioritizing these can lead men to pay less attention to their health.”
Finally, Prof. Griffith urged us all to understand that men do not need to make a choice between fulfilling their role in society and looking after their health.
“The hard part is that they need to prioritize both, not choose between them,” he told MNT. “Women and other loved ones of men need to recognize the fact that we, as a society, often value men for prioritizing them, fulfilling these roles, and we need to support them in balancing health with these roles.”