We all must have come across the phase: this is why women live longer than men. These are all over the social media, where men are performing more often than not, some experiments, without gears, just for fun, "in the name of science". The caption reads: this is why women live longer. However, is there really a science to it, other than the fact that women choose to do things more safely?

In the United States, women have a life expectancy of about 80, whereas men have 75. Women outlive men and this holds true regardless of the country women live, the money they make, and other factors. In fact, it is true for most other mammals too.

Dr Dena Dubal, a professor of neurology at the University of California, San Francisco told the New York Times, "It is a very robust phenomenon all over the world, totally conserved in sickness, during famines, during epidemics, even during the times of starvation."

But what are the reasons? These reasons are often more complicated and less established. It is important to note that only because women are outliving men does not mean they are living a better life. In fact, women tend to have shorter health spans, which means the number of healthy years in a person's life is less in women than men, confirmed Bérénice Benayoun, an associate professor at the U.S.C. Leonard Davis School of Gerontology.

As per a 2021 study titled, Sex differences in frailty: Comparisons between humans and preclinical models, found that women are more physically grail than men in old age. They are also more vulnerable, especially after menopause and are at more risk of developing cardiovascular issues and Alzheimer's disease because of age.

The key is in figuring out what makes one sex more resilient or vulnerable.

Genetics

For things which do not find easy explanations, scientists look for their answers in genes. Many research, including a 2020 study titled, The sex with the reduced sex chromosome dies earlier: a comparison across the tree of life, suggests that the XX set of female sex chromosomes may impact longevity. However, there has not been any clarity on how it affects longevity.

Another 2018 study titled, Female XX sex chromosomes increase survival and extend lifespan in aging mice, which was conducted by Dr Dubal's lab, looked at genetically manipulated mice with different combinations of sex chromosomes and reproductive organs. It was found that those with two X chromosomes and ovaries lived longest, followed by mice with two X chromosomes and testes. Mice with XY chromosomes had shorter life spans.

"There was something about the second X chromosome that was protecting the mice from dying earlier in life, even if they had testes. What if there was something on that second X chromosome that was in some ways a sprinkle of the fountain of youth," says Dr Dubal. While scientists have not yet looked at this factor in humans, Dr Dubal suggests that humans have the same hormones and sex chromosomes, and similar reproductive system that could corroborate the similar findings in people.

Hormones

Plenty research has shown that estrogen is responsible for longevity also effect on the immune system. The data also shows that before menopause, the female immune system tends to do better. In fact Dr Benayoun said that males tend to do much worse in response to infection.

Another 2017 study titled, Ages at Menarche and Menopause and Reproductive Lifespan As Predictors of Exceptional Longevity in Women: The Women's Health Initiative, found that women who experienced menopause later in life over the age 50 lived longer than those who experienced it earlier.

Lifestyle and Behavior

There are also disparity in behavioral patterns between men and women. This includes smoking, drinking heavily, which can contribute significantly to mortality. Women also have more "health promoting behavior", believe experts. Women are also more likely to socialize than men and thus it protects them from detrimental effects of social isolation and loneliness. In fact, a 2023 analysis published in Jama Network, titled, Widening Gender Gap in Life Expectancy in the US, 2010-2021, found that women are less likely to die by drug overdose or suicide.

If you have ever attended a nursing pinning ceremony in India, you know the moment. The lights dim. Young women carrying small brass lamps walk in, their faces glowing softly as they recite the Nightingale Pledge. Somewhere in the audience, a mother wipes her eyes because her daughter has become the first nurse in their family. The lamp is small. The promise it carries is enormous.

I have stood in many such auditoriums. Today, as a Director of Nursing, I stand among the senior nurses watching the next generation arrive. And I want to tell the young nurse holding that lamp something I wish someone had told me years ago: the profession you are entering is not the same profession your seniors entered. It is wider, brighter, and finally beginning to make room for you.

This year’s International Council of Nurses theme, “Our Nurses. Our Future. Empowered Nurses Save Lives,” feels written for that young woman holding the lamp. It says clearly that the future of healthcare belongs to her.

To understand that future, we must first look at the women who carried the profession before her.

I think of Annie. She trained in Kerala thirty years ago, moved north for her first posting, and never left. She has helped deliver more than two thousand babies in labor rooms that are often crowded, short-staffed, and always full of hope and fear. She does the things doctors rarely have time for. She teaches first-time mothers how to latch a baby, reassures anxious fathers, and explains kangaroo mother care to grandmothers who understand it instinctively the moment skin meets skin.

“When a baby is born,” Annie says, “a mother is born too. Sometimes she needs more help learning to be a mother than the baby needs learning to be a baby. That teaching is also nursing.”

I think of Sunita, who leads a Delhi ICU. During the second COVID wave, she lost a colleague to the virus and returned to duty the next morning. “I cried in the changing room, then I washed my face, then I went back. That is nursing.”

That is also leadership in its rawest form — the kind young nurses inherit not in classrooms, but in hospital corridors at 3 a.m.

What Annie and Sunita share is something quietly extraordinary: they teach. Ask any Indian family about the first hours of their child’s life, and they may remember the doctor briefly, but they will remember the nurse for much longer. It is the nurse who places the baby on the mother’s chest during the golden hour. The nurse who teaches breastfeeding explains danger signs before discharge, and shows trembling parents how to hold or bathe a newborn safely.

This is parent education in its purest form, and in India, it is overwhelmingly delivered by nurses. Florence Nightingale once called maternal nursing the most consequential nursing of all. More than a century later, she is still right.

And here is what is changing for today’s young nurses.

The corporate healthcare sector in India is finally building career pathways that reflect what nurses have always contributed. Roles like Nurse Practitioner in Obstetrics, Nurse Practitioner in Neonatology, certified lactation consultants, childbirth educators, fetal medicine nurses, IVF nurse coordinators, and clinical nurse specialists are no longer distant Western concepts. These opportunities now exist in Indian maternity and child healthcare, and they will increasingly be led by your generation.

The doors do not stop there. There are paths from bedside nursing to leadership roles such as charge nurse, unit manager, Assistant Director, and Director of Nursing. There are opportunities in clinical education, quality and patient safety, infection control, simulation training, research, accreditation, and hospital operations. Nurses who once knew only the hospital floor are now helping shape decisions in boardrooms.

This is what an empowered profession looks like — not a parallel system, but a real ladder built inside the very institutions where nurses dedicate their lives.

Nursing is finally being recognized as a clinical profession in its own right. Virginia Henderson described the nurse as “the consciousness of the unconscious, the eyes of the blind, the support of the weak.” Today, workplaces are slowly beginning to match that reality with better staffing norms, stronger security measures, and greater respect for nursing leadership. Progress may not be perfect, but the direction is right.

For perhaps the first time in Indian corporate healthcare, nursing is being seen not as a cost to minimize, but as a profession worth investing in. You are entering nursing at a moment when the profession itself is being rebuilt.

So, to the young nurse holding the lamp tonight: there will come a night when you are exhausted. The shift will have been long. A patient or relative may have spoken harshly. You will sit quietly in the changing room and wonder, for one honest moment, why you chose this profession. In that moment, remember this.

You chose the profession that places a newborn, still warm from birth, onto the chest of the woman who carried her. You chose the profession that teaches a young father, hands shaking with joy and fear, how to hold his baby safely for the first time. You chose the profession that sits beside the dying when even families cannot bear the pain. You chose the profession that quietly keeps hospitals alive through the night.

Mother Teresa once said, “Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.” Nurses do small things with great love every single day. But they also do great things, most of them unseen.

You will notice a newborn’s fever before anyone else does. You will recognize the silence of a struggling mother before it becomes dangerous. You will be the reason a patient survives, heals, or feels less afraid. None of this may appear on a discharge summary. But somewhere, in a family’s prayers, your care will remain unforgettable long after your name is forgotten.

And remember the mother from the beginning of this piece — the one wiping tears as her daughter walks in carrying a brass lamp. She represents every mother in India. She is the mother Annie reassured thousands of times. She is the mother Sunita prayed for during the pandemic.

And one day, she will sit in another auditorium watching another young nurse step forward to receive her lamp.

Because here is the detail most people miss about the lamp-lighting ceremony: no nurse lights her own lamp. A senior nurse lights it first, and from that flame every junior lamp begins to glow. Nursing is a profession that passes its light forward. Annie lit Sunita. Sunita will light you. And one day, another young nurse will look to you for light.

When that moment comes, lean forward.

The lamp is still burning. It has burned through wars, pandemics, and generations of women whose work was too often overlooked. It is now in your hands. Carry it gently. Carry it proudly. Carry it far. And when your hands grow tired, do not let it go out.

Contemporary office spaces have been designed to maximise comfort. Comfort includes central air conditioning, comfortable chairs, coffee dispensers, and beautiful interior design. Nonetheless, all these cool offices contribute greatly to the increase in blood pressure among unsuspecting employees. Many office workers spend about 8–10 hours indoors, thinking that comfort equates to good health. Sedentary lifestyles, stress at work, poor eating habits, and minimal movement are some of the factors resulting in increased levels of hypertension among young office-goers.

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In an interview with Health and Me, Dr Tushar Tayal, Associate Director, Internal Medicine, CK Birla Hospital, Gurugram, explained how extreme air conditioning at work can slowly weaken your heart and give you high blood pressure.

Impact of Air-Conditioned Offices on the Body

"Being constantly exposed to an air-conditioned environment may indirectly contribute to the rise in blood pressure levels. Extremely cold temperatures may prevent a person from moving around and sweating. People are less likely to go outside because of the difference in temperature between the interior and exterior environments. On top of that, dry air from air conditioners contributes to dehydration, particularly when people consume too much caffeine and too little water," Dr Tayal explained.

Stress Behind the Screens

Although an office atmosphere may seem serene from the outside, the corporate environment is frequently linked with high mental stress. Pressure to meet targets, appraisals, fear of being laid off, lengthy meetings, and information overload lead to the body being continuously on guard. High levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol and adrenaline, can increase blood pressure. Employees often experience silent stress, which means that while they may not feel emotionally stressed, they suffer from physiological symptoms including headaches, exhaustion, irritability, and hypertension.

Sedentary Lifestyle: The Major Risk Factor for High Blood Pressure Among Corporate Employees

A sedentary lifestyle has proven to be one of the major contributors to high blood pressure among corporate employees who spend much of their time sitting while participating in meetings, watching presentations, or working on computers. Physical inactivity makes the heart less effective while causing issues such as obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. One may think that people who play sports for an hour every day face no risks associated with a sedentary lifestyle, but even then, sedentarism can harm a person. Office employees tend to underestimate the amount of physical activity they engage in at their workplace.

Corporate Dieting: Another Hypertension Risk Factor

Dr Tayal said that the food culture in a corporate office plays a significant role in the development of high blood pressure as well. Numerous tea breaks, snacking on packaged foods with too much salt, takeaway meals, sweet drinks consumed in large amounts, and late suppers after overtime—all these aspects may affect cardiovascular health. Stress-related eating habits and improper food intake also play a role in metabolic disruptions. Consuming foods with excessive salt may be harmful.

BP: Young Professionals Are No Longer Considered “Too Young”

The expert went on to explain that previously, hypertension used to be linked more with elderly individuals. Now, doctors have been noting instances of high blood pressure among young professionals in their mid-20s and 30s. Corporate workers might look healthy from the outside but often neglect signs such as poor sleep quality, fatigue, dizzy spells, or stress. Because there may be no visible signs of high blood pressure, many cases are discovered only through regular medical check-ups. Specialists advise that undiagnosed hypertension can result in serious diseases in the future, such as heart disease or stroke.

Making Corporate Spaces Healthier Places to Work

Modern companies have begun to be urged to reassess the idea of wellness in the office. Promoting physical activity breaks, standing meetings, drinking water, looking after mental health, choosing healthier foods at the company canteen, and getting screened for hypertension can aid in minimising the risks of this illness. Workers can start by implementing small changes, such as doing stretching exercises once an hour, walking around while on the phone, consuming less coffee, and measuring their blood pressure regularly.

Individuals who experience tingling, numbness, and burning sensations in their hands and feet often disregard these early symptoms, especially after a long drive, extended standing, or sleeping. Many frequently take painkillers to ease their discomfort in the hope that their pain and other symptoms will quickly go away.

These types of persistent or recurrent symptoms, however, could be a signal of a nerve health issue such as peripheral neuropathy. Vitamin B12 is crucial for the nervous system, and its deficiency could be one of the potential causes.

Early detection of these symptoms and appropriate, timely medical advice can help facilitate immediate intervention. Addressing nutritional gaps under medical guidance may help support overall nerve health and reduce the risk of progression.

Recognizing Vitamin B Deficiency Symptoms

Neurotropic B-vitamins are essential for preserving the structure and function of nerves. A lack of these vitamins may present as:

• Tingling or “pins and needles” in the hands and feet
• Numbness or reduced sensation
• Body weakness and muscle fatigue

Common Vitamin B12 deficiency signs include persistent fatigue, sensory disturbances, imbalance and neuropathic discomfort. Early detection supports timely intervention and may help prevent further nerve damage.

The Role of Vitamin B In Supporting Nerve Health

The right nutritional support plays a key role in preserving nerve function:

• Methylcobalamin, an active form of Vitamin B12, is considered to be one of the most important B-vitamins for nerve protection and repair. It plays a key role in maintaining the protective covering around nerves, which allows them to function properly.
• Vitamin B1 supports nerve signal transmission and energy metabolism within nerve cells.
• Vitamin B6 supports the production of important brain chemicals and helps maintain efficient nerve communication.

A Structured, Preventive Approach

An appropriate and active approach to nerve care includes nutritional adjustments, metabolic regulation, and the right assistance to support symptoms.

Dietary Optimization: Encourage intake of foods rich in B-vitamins such as whole grains, dairy, eggs, legumes, and leafy vegetables. However, for those with restrictions, the diet alone might not be enough, especially in cases of established deficiency, malabsorption, or restricted diets.

Targeted Treatment: When guided by a healthcare professional, oral supplementation can be considered as part of a comprehensive plan.

• The well-recognized B complex tablets support nerve integrity and functional recovery in deficiency-related cases over time.
• A combination of Vitamin B12 with B6, B3, B1, and B5 helps alleviate symptoms like tingling, numbness, and overall weakness.
• For symptomatic relief from nerve pain, tingling, and burning sensations in hands and feet, topical formulations having 0.075% Capsaicin, Menthol, Eucalyptus, and Camphor may provide instant relief after a long commute or extended standing.

• Lifestyle management: Managing blood sugar levels, staying physically active, and avoiding prolonged periods of inactivity are all crucial for nerve health. Regular movement, stretching, and adequate sleep further support nerve resilience and recovery.