But the reasons could also be more complicated. After all, a baby girl’s natural survival edge stays with her throughout her entire life. Girls aren’t just born survivors, they grow up to be better survivors, too. “Pretty much at every age, women seem to survive better than men,” confirms Steven Austad, international expert on aging and chair of the biology department at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. He describes women as being more “robust.” It’s a phenomenon so clear and undeniable that some scientists believe understanding it may even hold the key to human longevity.
