How Men Age: What Evolution Reveals about Male Health and Mortality

by Richard Bribiescas

A groundbreaking book that examines all aspects of male aging through an evolutionary lens

While the health of aging men has been a focus of biomedical research for years, evolutionary biology has not been part of the conversation―until now. How Men Age is the first book to explore how natural selection has shaped male aging, how evolutionary theory can inform our understanding of male health and well-being, and how older men may have contributed to the evolution of some of the very traits that make us human.

In this informative and entertaining book, renowned biological anthropologist Richard Bribiescas looks at all aspects of male aging through an evolutionary lens. He describes how the challenges males faced in their evolutionary past influenced how they age today, and shows how this unique evolutionary history helps explain common aspects of male aging such as prostate disease, loss of muscle mass, changes in testosterone levels, increases in fat, erectile dysfunction, baldness, and shorter life spans than women. Bribiescas reveals how many of the physical and behavioral changes that we negatively associate with male aging may have actually facilitated the emergence of positive traits that have helped make humans so successful as a species, including parenting, long life spans, and high fertility.

Popular science at its most compelling, How Men Age provides new perspectives on the aging process in men and how we became human, and also explores future challenges for human evolution―and the important role older men might play in them.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Anthropology

192 pages, Hardcover

Published September 6, 2016

Reviews

[Ellyn Lem · Rating 3 out of 5]

I came across this book at Half Price and took it in on almost one sitting. Partly, that was because it contained some fascinating material and partly because it was short and something I am interested in for a chapter that I am writing on an aging book. Bribiescas is a professor of anthropology and evolutionary biology at Yale and he brings both of these disciplines into his examination of how men's experience of aging differs from women when most people focus mostly on the longevity difference itself. He did include some interesting tidbits about that as well--including that men with daughters live longer than men with sons perhaps due to the better caregiving that men generally receive from daughters world-wide. I also learned that men have a harder time fighting off illness than women (perhaps a reason for all of those jokes about men becoming babies when they are sick? they might actually get common sicknesses worse) since testosterone suppresses a hormone that women have, which ignites their immune response thereby limiting how sick they may get at times. Few people wanted to hear some of the stranger biological findings about how animals that are neutered live longer and what that might mean for humans. Overall, some parts were more interesting to me than others, but certainly it shed light on a subject not given that much focus--the aging male.

[Dev Govindji · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has interesting subject matter but is written for a scientifically adept audience. I was hoping to gain a practical knowledge of what to expect in my later years. However it provides an evolutionary analysis of aging at a molecular level.

I reccomend this book to anyone interested in learning about the human body from an evolutionary and molecular perspective.

[William Fung · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book presents some thought-provoking ideas and insights. However, it is written for a more scientifically adept audience, using technical terminology that may limit its accessibility for general readers seeking practical information about what to expect from the male aging process. While certain revelations are intriguing, portions of the arguments are framed in dense scientific language. The book provides an intellectual, research-focused perspective on its subject matter.

[Hansel5]

Saw this title on the shelf of artist Michael Tracy in San Ygnacio, TX late last year. Became intrigued. Some of the findings are revelatory, but most of the arguments were presented in scientific terms. Could have done without it.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thoughtful treatise on men and how they age, this book delves into male vs female differences and why men act as they do as they age. A good, quick read.