title: Sex Differences in Biological Markers of Health in the Study of Stress, Aging and Health in Russia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The apparent contradiction that women live longer but have worse health than men, the so called male-female health-survival paradox, is very pronounced in Russia. The present study investigates whether men in Moscow are healthier than women at the level of biomarkers, and whether the associations between biomarkers and subjective health have sex-specific patterns.
  
  
  METHODS
  Previously collected data in the study of Stress, Aging, and Health in Russia (SAHR, n = 1800) were used to examine sex differences in biomarkers and their associations with physical functioning and self-rated health.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The present study found mixed directions and magnitudes for sex differences in biomarkers. Women were significantly disadvantaged with regard to obesity and waist circumference, whereas men had a tendency toward higher prevalence of electrocardiographic abnormalities. No sex differences were indicated in the prevalence of immunological biomarkers, and mixed patterns were found for lipid profiles. Many biomarkers were associated with physical functioning and general health. Obesity and waist circumference were related to lower physical functioning among females only, while major Q-wave abnormalities with high probabilities of myocardial infarction and atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter were associated with physical functioning and self-rated health among males only.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  No clear patterns of sex differences in prevalence of high-risk levels of biomarkers suggest that the male-female health-survival paradox is weaker at the level of health biomarkers. We found some evidence that certain biomarkers reflecting pathophysiological changes in the organism that do not possess acute health risks, but over many years may lead to physical disability, are associated with physical functioning and self-rated health in women, whereas others reflecting more serious life-threatening pathophysiological changes are associated with physical functioning and self-rated health in men.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany; Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oksuzyan
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Clinical Institute of Pediatry at the Pirogov Moscow Medical University, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Shkolnikova
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany; Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Vaupel
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Biodemography, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark; Max-Planck Odense Center on the Biodemography of Aging, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Genetics, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark; Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark.
authors.forename: Kaare
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Christensen
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany; New Economic School, Moscow, Russian Federation.
authors.forename: Vladimir M
authors.initials: VM
authors.lastname: Shkolnikov
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006262:Health; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012426:Russia; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers