Is longevity currently primarily a women's issue? Why men die earlier and start later
- Dr. Reiner Kraft
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Last weekend, on March 21st, I attended a longevity retreat at Hofgut Schmitte in Biebertal.
A special place: quietly situated, almost secluded, with an atmosphere that instantly slows you down. Over the past few months, I've been supporting the team there in developing their longevity program. Step by step, a setup has emerged that now combines many things: ice bathing, infrared treatments, Airnergy oxygen therapy, a comprehensive wellness area, and now also IHHT altitude training. A place where you don't just understand health, you experience it.
The retreat itself was quickly fully booked. Twenty participants.
All women.
At first, I simply registered it. But the longer I thought about it, the more it bothered me. Not because it was unusual, but because it was so obvious.
Not a single exception. Not a single man (except me).
And at some point, a question arose that could no longer be ignored: Is longevity currently primarily a topic for women? And could that be part of the explanation for why men die earlier?
The moment it becomes obvious
When you study longevity, you inevitably end up looking at numbers. And they are sobering. On average, women live several years longer than men. This is true worldwide, regardless of culture or healthcare system. [6]
I'd known these figures for a long time. But this weekend they suddenly had a face. Twenty women actively working on their health. And an invisible group of men who weren't there.
Not because they weren't invited. But because they didn't come.
The obvious explanation – and why it's not enough
Of course, one could say: biology. Women have hormonal advantages. A more robust immune system. Genetic redundancies. That's all true.
But it doesn't explain what I saw there. Biology doesn't explain decisions. Nor does it explain behavior. And that's precisely the difference.
What I observed
The women at this retreat had something in common. They weren't ill. They weren't exhausted. They weren't forced to change anything.
They were early.
They wanted to understand, measure, optimize. Not because they had to, but because they could. That, I think, is the real difference.
The sentence that resulted from this
At some point I formulated it for myself like this:
Men don't just die earlier. They also enter the game later.
The longer I think about it, the clearer it becomes how precise this sentence is.
And how well it is supported by studies.
What the research says
The data is surprisingly consistent: men go to the doctor less often. They seek help later. They make significantly less use of preventative care.
One of the best-known studies on this topic shows that men often only seek medical help when symptoms can no longer be ignored [1].
Another line of research goes even deeper: Health behavior is culturally shaped. Not caring, enduring things, not reacting – all of this is often not seen as a problem in men, but as a strength [2].
Men, on average, visit the doctor significantly less often and make less use of preventive care services [3]. The consequence is systematic: diseases are diagnosed later, treated later, and are more likely to be severe.
What studies show is confirmed surprisingly clearly in practice...
What I see time and again in practice
The longer I work with people in the longevity context—in my epigenetics practice, my coaching programs, and my longevity coaching training—the clearer it becomes: It's not just about knowledge. It's primarily about when and how people get involved . Over time, certain patterns have emerged for me. Almost everyone, consciously or unconsciously, can be categorized into one of these types.
1. The Reactive
That's the biggest problem. People who hardly think about their health in their daily lives. No preventative care. No regular check-ups. The body works, so nothing is questioned.
Action is only taken when symptoms appear. But then often under time pressure, uncertainty, and with limited options.
The problem: At this point, longevity is no longer about design. It's about damage control.
2. The basic preventive
This guy does the classic things right.
annual check-up
Preventive check-ups
a certain basic awareness
This is an important step and significantly better than nothing.
But:
It often remains superficial. The measures are standardized, not personalized. One reacts within the system, but one does not actively control it.
3. The one who was pushed
An interesting type, and extremely common. The impulse rarely comes from within the person themselves, but rather from the outside.
Often it is the partner who says: "You should take care of that."
The decision to join is therefore not based on intrinsic motivation, but on a trigger.
This can go in two directions:
Either it remains a one-off impulse
or it will be the beginning of a new awareness
This is often where it's decided whether someone will stick with it in the long run.
4. The performance driver
This group is growing. People who act not out of fear, but out of a sense of entitlement.
Executives
entrepreneur
High Performer
They don't just want to stay healthy. They want to function at a higher level .
This is about:
energy
focus
Stress resilience
output
What I find interesting is that this group is particularly receptive to data-driven approaches. That's precisely why I'm working with some of them as part of my Longevity Code program. Everything is measurable. Everything has KPIs. Everything is iteratively optimized.
And that is precisely why programs like EVER Precision appeal so strongly to this target group.
5. The Curious One
This is often the transitional type. People who start asking questions:
How does my body actually work?
Where do I really stand?
What specific improvements can I make?
Many of them get involved via a first step, for example, through functional analyses like laser spectroscopy . Not because they have to, but because they want to understand. That's often the moment when interest turns into real change.
What all types have in common
Ultimately, it's not about which category someone falls into. It's about whether and when something changes .
The crucial question is always the same:
Do I start dealing with my health early enough, or do I wait until my body forces me to?
The real difference arises much earlier.
What bothered me about the discussion for a long time was the focus on age. Heart attack. Cancer. Dementia. All of that usually happens later in life.
But the cause is not there.
The difference arises decades earlier.
In thethirties . In the forties. In the everyday decisions that no one sees.
While some women begin to focus on sleep, nutrition, stress, and biomarkers, a large proportion of men apparently remain in "functioning mode." As long as things are working, nothing changes (that's how it was for me back when I lived in California).
The problem with late entry
The insidious thing about this approach is that it works for a long time. You can compensate for many years with suboptimal sleep, chronic stress, and poor nutrition. The body is remarkably resilient.
Until he is no longer there.
And that's exactly when what many men experience as a "sudden" illness begins.
Which is actually the result of a twenty-year delay.
One example that repeatedly comes up for men in the context of longevity
When looking at cardiovascular diseases, the pattern becomes particularly clear. Men have a higher incidence of these diseases and higher mortality rates. But at the same time: less prevention and poorer lifestyle markers.
This is not a medical mystery. This is a time lag.
The biggest lever regarding longevity lies in behavior.
One of the most exciting studies of recent years shows how strongly lifestyle influences life expectancy.
Five factors make a massive difference [4]:
Do not smoke.
Exercise regularly.
Eat a balanced diet.
Maintain a healthy body weight.
Reduce alcohol consumption.
The surprising thing is not that these factors have an effect, but how differently they are implemented.
Men perform worse in almost all categories. Not because they don't know better, but because they start later.
What I understood this weekend
The retreat made something very clear to me: Longevity is currently not a women's issue. But it is being driven by women.
Not because they are biologically predisposed to it. But because they get involved earlier. They notice earlier. They react earlier. They take responsibility earlier.
The real irony
A sober look at the data reveals a paradox: the group that would benefit most from longevity is the one that is least represented.
Men have a higher risk of major diseases. More stress. Poorer baseline metabolic values, especially before age 65 [5]. At the same time, their prevention rate is lower.
The potential effect of preventive behavior is often greater for them. And yet they start later.
What would need to change
I don't believe the problem is a lack of interest.
I think it's the way the issue is addressed.
Longevity is often portrayed as something calm, balanced, and long-term. This appeals to many women.
Many men, however, react more strongly to:
Performance
energy
function
Measurable results
Perhaps it's less about changing people, and more about changing language.
In the end, one simple question remains.
After this weekend, one thing is clearer to me than before: The difference between men and women does not arise at the end of life.
It is created at the beginning of her health journey.
And that makes longevity a question that has nothing to do with age, but rather with timing.
When do I really start to learn about how my body works?
Am I early enough, or should I wait until he forces me to?
📚 References
[1] Galdas, PM, Cheater, F., & Marshall, P. (2005) Men and health help-seeking behavior: literature reviewJournal of Advanced Nursing https:// doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2004.03331.x
[2] Courtenay, WH (2000) Constructions of masculinity and their influence on men's well-beingSocial Science & Medicinehttps:// doi.org/10.1177/109019810002700101
[3] OECD (2023) Health at a Glance – Gender differences in health use https:// www.oecd.org/health/health-at-a-glance/
(shows, among other things, lower utilization of health services by men)
[4] Li, Y. et al. (2018) Impact of healthy lifestyle factors on life expectancies in the US populationCirculation https:// doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.117.032047
[5] European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Cardiovascular disease statisticshttps: //www.escardio.org/Research/Statistics
[6] World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Observatory – Life expectancy https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/mortality-and-global-health-estimates
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