Older women have a lower risk of multisystem diseases than men

The study highlights the importance of interventions focused on delaying aging and age-related diseases to increase longevity and healthy life expectancy

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Women with longer lives are less susceptible to multisystem diseases –those that affect more than one organ system, such as the digestive and respiratory systems– than men. Furthermore, the onset of diseases is delayed in older people, both women and men. These are some of the conclusions of a research led by the University of Lleida, the Lleida Research Support Unit of the Jordi Gol Primary Health Care Research Institute (IDIAPJGol) and the Lleida Biomedical Research Institute (IRBLleida).

The research, published in the journal BMC Medicine, highlights the relevance of electronic medical records in the study of the aging process and opens new possibilities in the prevention of age-related diseases, which should help primary health care professionals to design individualized care and treatment plans.

“Health interventions focused on delaying aging and age-related diseases should be the most effective in increasing healthy life expectancy,” explained UdL professor Mariona Jové, who participated in the study. “These findings offer valuable information for primary care professionals to improve the quality of life of the population of Catalonia, through individualized care,” added the researcher.

The study was carried out with data from the Information System for the Development of Research in Primary Care (SIDIAP) of almost half a million people over 50 years of age, who died in Catalonia between 2006 and 2022. The study of these data have allowed to have a global vision of how diseases affect longevity and quality of life in women and men. “The results show that, as longevity increases, the onset of diseases is progressively delayed, both those that affect an organic system and diverse ones. We have observed that the number of individuals who avoid diseases increases when they are over 87 or 88 years old, although it ends up decreasing when the person approaches the age of death,” said IDIAPJGol researcher, Joaquim Sol. “Our objective is to study, at a population level, the specific disease patterns of each sex associated with human life expectancy,” the researcher confirmed.

A slower rate of aging means less risk of developing diseases and premature death. Therefore, the main challenge for modern societies is to ensure that the increase in life expectancy is accompanied by an increase in healthy lives. In this sense, understanding the relationship between the age of onset of diseases and human longevity should provide tools to increase both the longevity and health of individuals.

The research has been funded by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants (AGAUR), the Catalan Department of Health, the Lleida Provincial Council, the Institut d’Investigació en Atenció Primària Jordi Gol (IDIAPJGol), and the Carlos III Health Institute..

Reference of the article:

Sol, J., Ortega-Bravo, M., Portero-Otín, M. et al. Human lifespan and sex-specific patterns of resilience to disease: a retrospective population-wide cohort study. BMC Med 22, 17 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-023-03206-w