Sociology of Health, Illness and Healthcare: Life Expectancy Analysis

This report, addressing a Sociology of Health, Illness, and Healthcare assignment, delves into the complexities of life expectancy variations, drawing upon the provided research study titled 'Variations in health: What can the Department of Health and the NHS do?'. The analysis examines the significant differences in life expectancy across various demographics within the UK, including occupational class, sex, region, and ethnicity. The report explores the explanations behind these observed variations, considering factors such as gender differences, social class disparities, and behavioral influences. It critically assesses the argument that lower social classes are responsible for their higher mortality rates, offering alternative explanations and highlighting the impact of education, access to healthcare, and environmental factors. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizes the interplay of epidemiological circumstances and behavioral differences in shaping health outcomes, with references to relevant studies.

Running head: HEALTHCARE
SOCIOLOGY OF HEALTH, ILLNESS AND HEALTH CARE

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
1. Discuss the kinds of explanation for these observed variations in life expectancy.....................3
2. Could it be argued that the lower social classes are responsible for their higher mortality rates?
What alternative explanations can you give?..................................................................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
‘Variations in health: What can the Department of Health and the NHS do?’-on basis of
this journal produced by Great Britain, Department of health, morality has been decreased and
life expectancy has been increased over last century. There improvements have been occurred in
the developed world which benefits all sections of a community or society. This report is made
up to identify the health variants and to develop the strategy for altering them in the best manner.
This report is considered as the part of the government’s Health of the Nation Strategy.
1. Discuss the kinds of explanation for these observed variations in life
expectancy
Within the UK there are marked differences by occupational class, sex, region, and
ethnicity, in life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and incidence of and survival from a range
of diseases. It is analyzed that male have less life expectancy than the female. They also have
healthier life than female. This is result from national level survey and their data system which is
used to identify differences between male and female on the basis of their mortality rates. Mainly
this difference has estimated on the basis of epidemiological, social circumstances and behaviors
of the people within a community and society. In most of the country of UK male life expectancy
is more than female life expectancy. But in the very past this was not the actual scenario. At
present behind the reason of less life expectancy of women than men are the difference of
instruments that are needed to be used in daily life. Most of the time men are tend to have more
cardiovascular diseases. On the contrast women face inflammatory-related diseases (Peck et al.
2017).

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Sex is another cardiovascular risk factor that affects both male and female. It can be
varied on the basis of countries. It is seen that men tend to have more hypertension. On other
hand women raise lipids (Escobar et al. 2019). In this case, inflammatory activities are created by
the indicator of physiological dysregulation for women most of the time. It creates higher
cardiovascular risk for men at the same time. It also depends on some country and their historical
times. In the present phase of improved digital life male and female both are aware of saving
their health by maintaining health issues. As men works outside more than the women, they have
more mental and physical issues than women. But they also have more nutritious food than
women in family. Even by born men get more attention than women in case of education, health
and other facilities for growing up. Men can do worse in some aspects of health and sometime
the scenario can be different for women also (Peck et al. 2017).
Sometime lower social class can be another reason for increase mortality rate of the
women in the society. In lower social class, family members do not pay more attention to female
education and they consider female as working machine only for family. They are charged with
family-oriented work like cooking, washing clothes, cleaning house and taking care of other
male members of family. They do not take proper care of female members and by born these
female members do not get proper nutritious food form the family. It causes poor health of the
female members of the family (Schünemann, Strulik & Trimborn, 2017). Common
generalization is that men life is shorter and healthier than women and this kind of generalization
is the outcome of the analysis of differences of morality for both men and women. It makes
higher cardiovascular hazard for men simultaneously. It additionally relies upon some nation and
their verifiable occasions. In the current period of improved computerized life male and female
both know about sparing their wellbeing by keeping up medical problems. As men works outside

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more than the ladies, they have more mental and physical issues than women (Calder et al.
2016).
2. Could it be argued that the lower social classes are responsible for their
higher mortality rates? What alternative explanations can you give?
Lower social class can be a great reason that works behind increasing morality of people.
Lower social class contains those people of the society who earned lower and have less
knowledge about all phases of social and economic life (Steuerle & Cosic, 2018). People from
this class earns less due to have less skills and ability to work under pressures and professionals.
They get less opportunity for getting educated as they do not have the ability to spend for
education. Education is one of the most important mediums that provide information about the
importance of health awareness. Uneducated people do not know the effect of the bad practice of
leading unhealthy life. Living within a healthy environment can enhance the ability to fight with
diseases (Schünemann, Strulik & Trimborn, 2017).
These unawareness causes them to infect themselves with strong diseases. It causes death
rates high now a days. Lower social class people pay no attention to health environment and do
not bother to stay in unhealthy infrastructure. All these reasons lead these lower social class
people toward strong diseases which they are unable to fight back and result in death. Morality is
higher in lower social class people of the society (Austad, 2016).
Lower social class is predictable variants for morality as it can be control through
providing education and other facilities of health awareness to these people. But according to my
understanding, sex is another variant that is beyond control and is a big issue that causes morality
every year (Regan et al. 2016).

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Conclusion
The above discussion highlights the advantage of changes in behavior to explain the
difference in time of male and female whereas other studies show the changes which have been
observed in infancy, cannot be in behavior differences. Main mortality rate for both male and
female depends on epidemiological circumstances and behavioral differences. On the basis of
infectious condition such as heavy weighted infection, mortality relationship between male and
female can be almost same. This measurement is stated in the above discussion.

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References
Austad, S. (2016). Fischer KE. Sex differences in lifespan. 23:1022–33.
Peck, M. S., Porter, A. T., Hayes, B. D., Otieno, D., Hargrove, A. J., Mayhand, C. C., ... &
Brown, L. M. (2017). Sex and longevity: Why women live longer than men. Journal of
Student Research, 6(1), 19-23.
Schünemann, J., Strulik, H., & Trimborn, T. (2017). The gender gap in mortality: How much is
explained by behavior?. Journal of Health Economics, 54, 79-90.
Regan, J. C., Khericha, M., Dobson, A. J., Bolukbasi, E., Rattanavirotkul, N., & Partridge, L.
(2016). Sex difference in pathology of the ageing gut mediates the greater response of
female lifespan to dietary restriction. Elife, 5, e10956.
Steuerle, E., & Cosic, D. (2018). How Should Social Security Adjust When People Live
Longer?.
Calder, P. C., Carding, S. R., Christopher, G., Kuh, D., Langley‐Evans, S. C., & McNulty, H.
(2018). A holistic approach to healthy ageing: how can people live longer, healthier
lives?. Journal of human nutrition and dietetics, 31(4), 439-450.
Chmielewski, P., & Borysławski, K. (2016). Understanding the links between month of birth,
body height, and longevity: why some studies reveal that shorter people live longer–
further evidence of seasonal programming from the Polish population. AnthropologicAl
review, 79(4), 375-395.

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Escobar, K. A., Visconti, L. M., Wallace, A. W., & VanDusseldorp, T. A. (2019). “Diet and
Exercise Will Help You Live Longer”: The Meme that Turns on Housekeeping Genes.
Advances in Geriatric Medicine and Research, 2(1).