Today's generation of older men age differently than today's older women, having had lifestyles that place them at higher risk for today's leading causes of death. It is worth noting that this can be expected to change if successive generations of women take up smoking and other harmful practices that place them at equal risk for diseases such as lung cancer and heart disease. CHD is the number one cause of death in men over 40 and is responsible for half of all deaths among older people. Strokes affect 1.5 times as many men as women and are a major cause of disability as well as death. The same risk factors as those mentioned for CHD increase a man's risk for stroke.
Many lung diseases are more prevalent among men than women.
For example, lung cancer kills four times as many men than women. More men die from emphysema and pneumonia, too. The major causes are occupational hazards and smoking. While smoking rates have gone down considerably for the general population, one-third of men over 65 still smoke. Quitting at any age benefits the pulmonary system, and some damage may even be reversed.