Gender Issues for Men: Stress

In a previous blog we spoke about two different theories of gender; social learning theory and evolutionary theory. The so-called nature or nurture argument. However the current thinking is of a Gene-Environment (G-E) interaction; gender, behaviour or personality is not all nature or all nurture but an interaction of genes and the environment. The G-E interaction also solves one problem of evolution theory. In Darwin’s original theory of evolution the time required for species to evolve seemed a bit long; it was clear that species could evolve very quickly.

In social learning theory males and females learn their role in society, boys play rugby and girls play the more gentile game of netball. Hence boys learn not only the rules of rugby but how to be rough and tumble blokes. Girls learn how to be sporty but gentile. It would be considered unseemly to see a couple of girls punching it out on the netball court. The G-E interaction sees learning differently. Learning changes us biologically; some environmental interactions actually turn genes on and off. Humans all have thousands of genes many which do not seem to do anything at al. The latest gene research suggests that many of these genes are lying in reserve and are turned on (or off) under certain situations. As an example a group of genes has been identified which appeared to how no function, except if the owner of those genes smoke, in that case there is almost a 90% chance of contracting lung cancer ever with light smoking. So in the traditional Darwin theory of evolution, Zebras are chased by lions so the fastest Zebras escape and each generation of Zebras gets a little bit faster. The G-E interaction perspective says that if Zebras are chased by predators, run fast genes are turned on and the very next generation of Zebras have run fast genes that are turned on at birth with allows for the develop of a Zebra much faster than the parents.

So the question is, if Zebras can faster why don’t they just run faster? Because running fast has its own problems; bones have to be lighter which can break more easily, the metabolic rate has to be higher which means more food, etc. The other question is how does this apply to men’s health? Humans also have genes that turn on and off due to environmental conditions and stress has been identified as such an environmental condition. Again as one example, a gene called MOA has been identified with higher levels of aggression and interestingly occurring in males but not in females. Further not all males have this gene; boys who have this gene and are brought up in supportive non stressful environments do not seem to have any problems with aggression. However boys with the gene who are raised in families where there is domestic violence, marital stress or in communities riven by conflict have higher levels of aggression and criminal convictions. So cast your mind back 10,000 years to the plains of Africa where troops of humans are wandering around the bush. Females, the most valuable members of the troop, are huddled in the centre of the territory and expendable males patrol the edges of the territory. In times of scarcity the interaction between human troops and even troops of other animals such as baboons will be much more violent as each troop is either trying to defend their territory and resources or to steal resources from other troops. Of course fighting with other troops is not always beneficial, especially when simple trade began. Also aggressive males need stronger upper bodies, requiring more food and diverting internal resources away from more useful muscles such as legs. So a gene like MOA makes perfect evolutionary sense, allowing human males to evolve from being highly aggressive to more co-operative and visa versa quite quickly.

So again, how does all of this affect men’s health and fitness? Prolonged exposure to stress is unhealthy and that men seem to suffer from more stress related conditions than women. Now this might be cultural, yoga and meditation classes which are great for stress relieve are usually populated with women not men. However research is beginning to show that genetic factors allow men to better cope with stress in the short term but suffer in the longer term. Generally, exercise is considered good for stress relieve however some interesting research is questioning this. When you see men exercise in the gym, there is a good chance they are doing bench presses, bicep curls etc, all the exercises to build upper body strength. Remember upper body strength is associated with aggression and stress. Rather than being stress relieving these upper body strength gym routines might actually be turning on stress and aggression response genes, although more research is required. The bottom line is men are very susceptible to stress and should be doing specific stress reduction routines such as meditation or yoga.