TIM O'BRIEN

THE HIGH numbers of people who die during the winter months, particularly as a result of respiratory disease and heart failure, may decrease because of global warming, an all-Ireland conference on the health implications of climate change has been told.

Women still outlive men but the gap is narrowing and men can help themselves buck the statistics, writes MICHAEL KELLY .

THERE IS good and bad news for men in the recently published Central Statistics Office (CSO) report on life expectancy. The good news is that male life expectancy has increased and the gap between male and female life expectancy is narrowing.

The bad news is that we still don’t live as long as our female compatriots, and men from 11 other EU countries live longer than we do.

CARL O'BRIEN and CHARLIE TAYLOR

THE GAP in life expectancy between men and women in Ireland is narrowing. On average, women are living longer than men – 81.6 years compared with 76.8 years, latest Central Statistics Office (CSO) figures show.

However, the difference in life expectancy between men and women has narrowed over the past 20 years by about one year.

Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent

AS THE COUNTRY faces a prolonged cold spell, a specialist in geriatric medicine has warned of the health dangers of increasing “fuel poverty” among older people whose pensions have been hit by the economic recession. Meanwhile, rates of influenza infection have dropped sharply in the last week, signalling the beginning of the end of this winter’s flu outbreak.