It’s no secret that women often outlive men. It’s a pattern seen across generations: women live 5–7 years longer than men. While mostly lifestyle differences (stress, diet) are often blamed, what if the reason is rooted in our biology?
A recent study published in eLife shows the answer is more complex than previously assumed: aging affects men and women differently at a molecular level.
It was long assumed that aging is mostly the same for everyone, with hormones like estrogen in women and lifestyle factors driving the differences. Diseases like Alzheimer’s were said to affect women more, particularly after menopause, but men were thought to be less vulnerable overall. Yet, something didn’t add up, especially when research hinted at different responses between the sexes in things like heart disease.
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The new findings are significant. The study, which analyzed over 17,000 transcriptomes (gene activity) across 35 human tissues, shows that men’s cells age faster than women’s — a difference not explained solely by lifestyle.
The molecular clock in men seems to tick earlier. Significant changes in gene expression appear around ages 35–40 in tissues like skin and arteries, while in women, these shifts generally occur after 45.
This accelerated aging is especially noticeable in the brain, where splicing changes (how genes get edited into working instructions) in genes in men were found to overlap with patterns seen in Alzheimer’s, which may explain greater male vulnerability to cognitive decline.
These are empirical findings that the researchers found that gene splicing, which is how cells mix and match their genetic instructions, occurs differently between the sexes. These molecular changes are linked to diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer, and heart disease, all of which affect men differently than women in this pan-tissue view.
What does this mean?
We might need sex-specific treatments for aging and disease. It’s possible that estrogen- or androgen-targeted hormonal therapies, splicing drugs, or even personalized aging clocks could be developed for men and women to target their distinct biological needs.
The research points toward more precise medicine: understanding aging at the cellular level could influence clinical strategies and longevity research.
Story Source: Wang et al. (2025), published in eLife. Read the study here.