Not only are women less likely to get colorectal cancer - around 55 men per 100,000 men are affected, compared with 35 women - but women who have taken the combined Pill or HRT are even less likely. The Pill and HRT both contain oestrogen.
'Oestrogen is protective against bowel cancer,' Boyd explains. The theory is that oestrogen has an effect on insulin. Being overweight puts you at greater risk of colorectal cancer, possibly because the body produces more insulin.
However, overweight women are not as at risk as overweight men, and that's possibly because the oestrogen 'cancels out some of the effect', says Boyd. As for lung cancer, men are at greater risk simply because they have tended to smoke more than women
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-562627/Are-women-really-weaker-sex-The-intriguing-medical-facts-settle-oldest-argument-all.html#ixzz3zb7hgoA8
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