However, the life expectancy of men from upper and lower middle income countries varied widely. Regardless of the type of disease (communicable, non-communicable diseases or injuries),
men have a higher mortality rate compared to women (Fig. 2, Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). Men from higher-income countries have lower mortality rates compared to those from the other income countries. However, the mortality rates are similar among the upper-, lower-middle and low-income countries, particularly for non-communicable diseases and injuries. The prevalence of CVD risk factors is lower in Asia compared to Europe, USA and the world except for smoking (Fig. 5). Within Asia, men in higher-income countries tend to drink more alcohol, smoke less, have higher total cholesterol, are less active physically and more overweight than poorer-income countries. MDV3100 in vivo A similar pattern is also observed in Europe. selleckchem The level of systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose, total cholesterol and body mass index was directly related to the income status of the country (Fig. 6). Between 1980 and 2009, while the level of systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased in higher-income Asian countries, the opposite trend was observed in the lower-income countries. During the same
period, the fasting blood glucose and the body mass index continued to rise for all income countries while the total cholesterol level decreased over time. This study confirms that, in Asia, men have a shorter life expectancy and higher mortality due to communicable diseases, non-communicable diseases and injuries compared to women. This discrepancy is particularly between higher- and lower-income countries. There is also a rising trend for most of the cardiovascular risk factors, particularly in the middle-income countries. Overall, Asian men have a shorter life expectancy (70 years) compared to those in Europe (72 years) and USA (76 years) (WHO, 2011b). However, there is a wide variation in life expectancy across different income groups in Asia. For
instance, the life expectancy of men from Singapore and Hong Kong (80 years) is comparable to the average life expectancy of men from high-income countries in the world (78 years) (WHO, 2011a). On the other hand, men from low-income countries, such as PAK6 Afghanistan, Cambodia and Myanmar, have one of the shortest life expectancy in the world. The difference between the highest and the lowest life expectancy of men in Asia (24 years; Qatar 83 years vs Afghanistan 59 years) is larger than that of Europe (17 years; San Marino 82 years vs Ukraine 65 years) (WHO, 2011b). This pattern is also observed in women, which showed a difference of 26 year in Asia (Hong Kong 87 years vs Afghanistan 61 years) and 10 years in Europe (Switzerland/France/Andorra/Monaco/Spain/Italy 85 years vs Republic of Moldova/Albania 75 years) (WHO, 2011b).