©Arlene Taylor PhD

agingOverall, females tend to age more slowly, except for their skin, but they may have more difficulty accepting it. Their skin is thinner and more susceptible to damage from exposure to environmental factors such as cigarette smoke. It begins to wrinkle at an earlier age (10 years earlier on the average) and wrinkles more easily.

Males tend to age more quickly than females but often accept it better. Their skin is thicker and screens out some of the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Hair follicles act to reinforce the skin (much like steel reinforces concrete) and slow the development of wrinkles.

Females and males have equal numbers of body hairs overall, but the body hair on females is often finer in texture. Females lose about 100 scalp hairs per day but most of them grow back.

Male body hair tends to be distributed differently with more on the chest area. Males tend to lose about 100 scalp hairs per day but fewer grow back due to heredity and higher testosterone levels.

Females

  • Tend to lose brain tissue later in the aging process and lose less of it overall.

  • Prone to lose tissue in the hippocampus and parietal lobes, areas concerned with memory and visual-spatial abilities.

  • Their center of gravity is lower so when they fall, they tend to fall backward, which can result in back injuries.

Males

  • Brain tissue shrinks faster with age, which can result in a faster decline in loss of cognitive abilities.

  • Prone to lose tissue in the frontal and temporal lobes, areas concerned with thinking and feeling.

  • Their center of gravity is higher so when they fall, they tend to fall forward, which can result in facial damage and injuries due to broken glasses.