The average woman lives seven years longer than the average man. Thus she is more likely to acquire the diseases that come with aging. Geriatricians are doctors who specialize in treating patients who are older. Most of the patients treated by geriatricians are women
Jeff’s mother, Ruth Boyd, shown here at
age 90, has had both knees replaced because of osteoarthritis. Yet she goes to aerobics twice a week, and figures
she has another dozen years ahead. In recent years she has developed glaucoma and bad cholesterol, for which she
takes medicines. Ruth’s husband, who was Jeff’s father, died at age 83 when Ruth was 76 years old.
Beverly VanGerud, a woman who is almost always in pain from severe lupus arthritis,
and who has a type of brain tumor causing memory deficits. She takes a chemo-therapy medicine in order to treat the arthritis, and it has caused her hair to fall out.
The medicines she takes threaten to cause blindness as a side effect. Bev works every day for a large bank.
Jeff’s first wife, Pat taught him more about chronic illness than medical school.
Despite having diabetes, two heart attacks and two strokes she remained upbeat. Pat endured bypass surgery on her heart. Both her legs were amputated above the knees.
Over a several decades she went blind and her hands became numb. At the age fifty she died.
What kept Pat optimistic despite all this? There were three reasons. First, she was a devoted mother. She was willing to go through anything providing her daughter Felicity was okay.
Second, Pat and Jeff became increasingly spiritual. Medical research shows that spirituality is a powerful resource for dealing with stress. They were devoted servants of Jesus Christ. They prayed often for healing, but God’s answer was, "Not yet!"
Third, Pat’s medical disasters were not her main experience in life. The diseases were often quiet and well behaved. There were long periods of normal life. Even when Pat was on peritoneal dialysis, it became part of the ordinary routine.
Life itself was delicious. It was sometimes possible to deny the danger, ignore the illnesses, and simply enjoy the blessings that God sent us in such abundance.
Women Go To Doctors More Than Men Do
Women seek medical treatment more often and for milder symptoms, than is true of men. This has two effects that increase the rate of chronic illness for women. (a) A woman is more likely to receive a diagnosis earlier in the course of an illness, with the result that a woman lives with a chronic diagnosis for more years than is true of a man. (b) The woman is more likely to be treated for a chronic disease, thus delaying death, and that in turn means that a woman is more likely to live for more decades with a chronic diagnosis. Men on the other hand are more likely to wait until they are severely symptomatic before they go to a doctor. They live less years with a chronic diagnosis because they don’t receive a diagnosis until late in the game and when they do get diagnosed, they soon thereafter die, thus decreasing the number of men living for decades with a chronic diagnosis
Women Are More Likely To Be Caregivers
There are tens of millions of laypeople who take care of chronically ill relatives or friends without receiving a penny for their effort (www.partnershipforsolutions.com). This self-sacrificing work can consume many hours a day. Women are twice as likely as men to volunteer to be the unpaid caregivers. Thus again, the burden of chronic illness falls on female shoulders.
Beth Brown feels she is doing the assignment God entrusted her with, taking care of her husband after his stroke.
She radiates a tranquil joy, despite a burden that might have crushed someone else.