The Health Difference Between Women and Men

Health outcomes are very different between the sexes. It has been known for some time that women generally outlive men, and are less susceptible to some illnesses and more susceptible to others. 

(This article concentrates on the typical XX (female) and XY (male), and ignores the sex chromosome abnormalities of loss, damage or addition of one or both sex chromosomes, which cause a number of developmental syndromes.)

In humans, sex is largely determined by chromosomes that carry tightly coiled DNA that carry our genes. The cells of most women possess two X chromosomes, while most men have one X and one Y chromosome. For women, one of the X chromosomes is mainly switched off, and the one that remains active seems to be chosen at random during the first few weeks of pregnancy. So half of a woman's cells generally use the X chromosome inherited from her mother, and the other half the one from her father. If one X has a harmful mutation, cells that use the other X can compensate. This explains why it is rare for women to be colour-blind, while around 8% of men cannot see a difference between red and green, and some are totally colour-blind. Almost all women can see 1m colours, but 5-15% of women have a visual superpower and are able to see 100m colours.

(Men are genetically programmed to have greater muscle power, lift heavier weights and run faster. More female embryos are lost during the early stages of pregnancy but are more likely to survive birth and onwards; more males die at and soon after birth.)

The two X populations cooperate and share not just genetic material with one another but also proteins and enzymes, which give an extra ability to handle disease. Even in tissues where the ratio of the Xs is 50:50, that can change. With a skin injury, one population of X cells might take over the healing process, but the ratio will drop back to 50:50 once healing is complete. If the heart cells carrying paternal X survive the lack of oxygen, it will be that population that survives; that benefit can occur in other organs such as the liver and kidneys.

The X chromosome is rich in immune-related genes. This means that women's bodies can cell population shift to the more effective X for an illness. One important group of genes on X helps cells recognise single-stranded RNA viruses,such as the coronavirus. Woman therefore have twice the options of recognising such a virus. The gene for the ACE2 protein is also on the X.

A further advantage for women is that the male hormone testosterone supresses the immune system, while the female hormone oestrogen makes it more aggressive. Although after the menopause, oestrogen levels decline, female cells still tend to be more critical and powerful in defending against a possible attack.

The downside to XX is that women have higher rates of autoimmune conditions. Female hormones (oestrogens) stimulate the immune system, while male testosterone inhibits it, but even before puberty, autoimmunity is still higher in females. 

In both sexes, in the fetus, the thyroid gland immune cells go through an "educational process"; if immune cells recognise other cells from the person's body, the immune cells self-destruct. This happens so that once the baby is born, autoimmunity does not happen. This works well in males, but in females, who have two genetically different cell populations, it is more likely that not all self-recognising cells are destroyed.

On the other hand, having a somewhat autoreactive immune system means XX can more easily detect microbes that resemble human cells. It may also explain why XX have a lower chance of certain cancers; women may be clearing pre-malignant cells before they are detectable medically. This pattern seems to hold true even with cancers that start before puberty, although higher rates of smoking and drinking in males does have an effect.

This sex difference is increasingly recognised but public and health professionals alike are accustomed to attributing the differences to behavioural issues. And it is difficult to understand the difference between biological strength and physical strength, and that a five-foot-three woman has a survival advantage over a six-foot male Olympic weight-lifter. There are also implications for treatments as women (i.e. XX) have different sensitivity to medications.

Moalem believes that having two versions of X explains why women are less vulnerable to certain congenital disorders and better at fighting off infections, including the coronavirus.

• Supercentenarians (over 110) are 95% female.
• More girls than boys reach their first birthday.
• Girls who have asphixia at birth do better cognitively than boys.
• In general, drugs are metabolised slower by XX, and gut transit time is slower, so XX have to wait longer after eating to have an empty stomach.
• Melanoma kills twice as many young men as women, because XX benefit from stronger immune response and female sex hormones, while XY are not necessarily using less sun screen or not going to their doctor. 

Source: The stronger sex by Sharon Moalem, in New Scientist, 1 August 2020.
Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, August 2020.

British Postcodes

Mail Obsession: a journey round Britain by postcode by Mark Mason. A history of the British postcode system and some facts about each of the postcode districts.

The first attempt at using postcodes was a scheme for London set up by Sir Rowland Hill in 1857. He split the capital into N, NE, E, SE, S, SW, W and NW plus EC (East Central) and WC (West Central). Later Anthony Trollope merged NE with E, and splitting S between SW and SE, leaving just eight codes. The 1930s saw postcodes introduced in larger towns and cities but the current system was introduced starting with Croydon.

There are 124 UK postcode areas, including the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Postcode areas, towns and districts do not follow political boundaries and usually serve larger areas than the place names indicate.

The postcode area is the largest geographical unit and forms the initial one or two characters of the alphanumeric code, which are generally intended as a mnemonic, e.g. AB for Aberdeen. Areas are divided into districts with a number, with number 1 always used for the main sorting office. As a general rule, large post towns are are numbered from the centre out, with outlying districts having higher numbers. The area and district is followed by a space. Then there is a number to indicate sectors within districts, e.g. AB10 1. The following two letters identify streets or sides of a street, e.g. AB10 1FQ which is the postcode for Aberdeen Art Gallery in Schoolhill.

Area: SP = Salisbury Plain. Districts: SP1 (main sorting office), SP2, SP3, SP4 and SP5 are used for Salisbury. SP6 = Fordingbridge # SP7 = Shaftesbury # SP8 = Gillingham # SP9 = Tidworth # SP10 and SP11 = Andover.

Zeroes are high rather than low, so only used after numbers 1 to 9 have been used. The final two letters in a postcode are never CIKMOV.

Did you know?

• Some postcodes cross national boundaries. 
• People can't get new build house insurance cover until a postcode is allocated.
• SE2 residents of Bexley Heath get charged London levels of insurance premiums.
• Because Kirkwall (KW) includes Orkney, mainland residents of this postcode end up paying higher delivery charges which are applied to the all KW addresses.

Only four non-London areas have single letter codes: S is Sheffield, B is Birmingham, G is Glasgow, L is Liverpool and M is Manchester.

The full list of postcodes areas.
AB = Aberdeen # AL = St Albans # B = Birmingham # BA = Bath # BB = Blackburn # BD = Bradford # BH = Bournemouth # BL = Bolton # BN = Brighton # BR = Bromley # BS = Bristol # BT = Belfast # CA = Carlisle # CB = Cambridge # CF = Cardiff # CH = Chester # CM = Chelmsford # CO = Colchester # CR = Croydon # CT = Canterbury # CV = Coventry # CW = Crewe # DA = Dartford # DD = Dundee # DE = Derby # DG = Dumfries and Galloway # DH = Durham # DL = Darlington # DN = Doncaster # DT = Dorchester # DY = Dudley # E = London East # EC = London East Central # EH = Edinburgh # EN = Enfield # EX = Exeter # FK = Falkirk # FY = Blackpool / Fylde (Bolton already using BL) # G = Glasgow # GL = Gloucester # GU = Guildford # GY = Guernsey # HA = Harrow # HD = Huddersfield # HG = Harrogate # HP = Hemel Hempstead # HR = Hereford # HS = Outer Hebrides # HU = Hull # HX = Halifax # IG = Ilford # IM = Isle of Man # IP = Ipswich # IV = Inverness # JE = Jersey # KA = Kilmarnock (Kilmarnock and Ayr?) # KT = Kingston-upon-Thames # KW = Kirkwall # KY = Kirkcaldy #  L = Liverpool # LA = Lancaster # LD = Llandrindod Wells # LE = Leicester # LL = Llandudno # LN = Lincoln # LS = Leeds # LU = Luton # M = Manchester #  ME Rochester (Medway towns) #  MK = Milton Keynes # ML = Motherwell # N = London North # NE = Newcastle # NG = Nottingham # NN = Northampton # NP = Newport # NR = Norwich # NW = London North West # OL = Oldham # OX = Oxford # PA = Paisley # PE = Peterborough # PH = Perth # PL = Plymouth # PO = Portsmouth # PR = Preston # RG = Reading # RH = Redhill # RM = Romford # S = Sheffield # SA = Swansea # SE = London South East # SG = Stevenage # SK = Stockport # SL = Slough # SN = Swindon # SO = Southampton # SP = Salisbury Plain # SR = Sunderland # SS = Southend-on-Sea # ST = Stoke-on-Trent # SU = Sutton (Sutton and Morden?) # SW = London South West # SY = Shrewsbury # TA = Taunton # TD = Galashiels # TF = Telford # TN = Tonbridge # TQ = Torquay # TR = Truro # TS = Cleveland # TW = Twickenham # UB = Southall (Uxbridge) # W = London West # WA = Warrington # WC = London West Central # WD = Watford # WF = Wakefield # WN = Wigan # WR = Worcester # WS = Walsall # WV = Wolverhampton # YO = York # ZE = Lerwick (Zetland) #

Also
BF = British Forces  #  XX = used by online retailers for returns by Royal Mail.

The British Postal Museum and Archive is at 15-20 Phoenix Place, London, WC1X 0DA.

END

Skin Care

A collection of tips

Acne: Clarol Silver Serum seems to be effective in treating this, by re-balancing the skin flora.

Skin tags (fibromas): Dermaxx is a homeopathic remedy containing the essential oil Thuja occidentalis, which is known for its ability to remove skin tags.

Sources: various

Fake News About EU

Over the years, fake news has been spreading about EU. Here are the real facts.

Treating Brits abroad costs other EU countries five times as much as the NHS cost of treating EU citizens.

Educating migrant children does not cost £3.26 billion, as claimed by Vote Leave. In 2016 government figures reported that nearly 700,000 school-aged children had at least one parent who was a citizen of a European country. This figure includes people such as Nigel Farage; he has two children by his first wife who is Irish, and two more children by his second wife, a German national.

There has never been an EU ban on bendy bananas, or Bombay Mix. There has never been a ban on under-8's blowing up balloons - just a requirement that packaging has to include a safety warning. Likewise, the EU did not call for life guards at paddling pools - it has no jurisdiction to do this.

The Smoking Ban in UK pubs is UK law, and did not come from EU legislation.

There was no need to replace UK passports with a different colour cover as there this is a decision for individual countries. The decision to go from blue to burgundy was taken by the UK government.

There is no EU Army.

The UK remains metric. The change from Imperial measures happened in 1965, eight years before the UK joined the EU.

The EU did not try to put Kent in France. In a report looking at environmental changes in Europe, it was listed as having similar issues as France. Nor did it try to rename Trafalgar Square or Waterloo station.

The UK will still participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, as this is not an EU event. The annual international song competition is run by Eurovision, a television network that is part of the European Broadcasting Union, which also runs a radio network, Euroradio. Eurovision was set up for the purpose of exchanging TV programmes and TV news footage.

English will continue to be an official language of the EU as it is the most widely spoken language, understood by 51% of all adults. All 24 official languages of the EU are accepted as working languages, but in practice only three - English, French and German - are in wide general use, with English being the more commonly used. English is still an official language in Ireland and Malta.

 Source: Various.

Documents - What to Keep and for How Long

More than ever, we have paperwork, even if we've gone digital. So what do we need to keep and for how long? (Applies to UK.)

Keep forever

• Marriage, birth and death certificates, wills, house deeds, and adoption records. These are only issued in paper form, and can be difficult and costly to replace. Keep the paper copies in a locked and fire resistant security box.
• Car V5C logbook is also a paper document,which you must pass on to the next owner if you sell your car.
• Life insurance: make sure your beneficiaries know where this is kept and who is the main contact.
• Pensions: keep all your documentation, otherwise you could miss out on hard-earned money.
• Medical records: a medical exemption lasts for five years or until your 60th birthday. Keep a note of your NHS number as you will need this if you change GP.
• Keep hold of your child's Personal Child Health Record (the red book) if you have a paper version. There is now a digital version, the eRedbook.
• National Insurance number: if you've lost your NI card, you should be able to find it on a payslip, P60 or tax return. If not, you can apply for a replacement card.
• Pets: keep proof of their vaccinations. A pet passport lasts for ever, provided rabies vaccinations are up to date.

Keep for their lifetime

• Passport
• Driving licence: the paper counterpart to the driving licence has had no legal status since June 2015. You should destroy yours but keep your photocard licence. BUT paper-only licences issued before 1988 are still valid and must not be destroyed.
• Vehicle documents: keep car insurance, road tax and proof your car has passed its MOT until they expire. Either keep hard copies in a locked box or store digital copies in a safe place.
• Rental agreements: keep until you have received your deposit back from your landlord or letting agent in case you need to argue anything.
• Extended warranties have different time limits depending on manufacturer, so make a note of the expiry date.

Keep for two years

• Tax records, including your P60, coding notices from HMRC and proof of interest paid on bank accounts.

Keep for one year

• Payslips only need to be kept until you receive your P60.
• Utility bills: keep a record for a year in cases of problems, and so you can compare when it comes to deciding on a new deal.
• TV licences can be done online now, so you pay by direct debit, there is no need to worry. Otherwise, keep a note of when you need to review.

Self employed?

• Keep records of your business income so you can fill in tax returns and for five years after the 31st January tax return deadline.
• For a limited company, you need records of the company itself and its income. You need to keep records for six years after the end of the financial year. If paperwork isn't your strong point, hire an accountant to help.
• If you are a sole trader, running an unlimited business, you need to keep a record of your business income and expenses for your tax return alongside your personal income. Keep these records for five years.

Source: Feature in Good Housekeeping, February 2019