The Young Male Syndrome —An Analysis of Sex, Age, Risk Taking and Mortality in Patients With Severe Traumatic Brain Injuries

Conclusion The willingness of young males to engage in dangerous situations might be adaptive in terms of fitness maximization. Nonetheless, for some individuals this intense sexual competition can be detrimental to health. The correspondence between the age distribution of the reproductively most active population and those suffering sTBI only partially supports the evolutionary hypothesis about risk-taking behavior. The prevalence of higher external mortality rates of young males, on the other hand, was not present in our data at all, nor did we find any support for the assumption that sTBI acquired from riskier behavior would lead to higher risk of death. In contrast, in our dataset on risky behavior and even alcohol intoxication, the results seem to coincide with lower mortality rates after the injury. The term YMS refers to a specific demographic pattern of risk-taking behavior. However, this phrasing has not been justified by our data, though our sample is not representative for the whole population, rather it consists of those who suffered serious brain injuries due to accidents. Our results contrast with other studies suggesting that YMS may explain the risk taking behavior and mortality pattern among patients with sTBI (17, 44, 45). However, we propose that men might be more prepared to prevent at least some of the injuries. This might distort the proportions of males and females in the patient population from the patterns expected from evolutionary insights. Still...
Source: Frontiers in Neurology - Category: Neurology Source Type: research