It's a well-known fact that men's life expectancy is lower than women's, but less well understood is that this means many men are dying prematurely, often from preventable illnesses, according to researchers at the University of Adelaide.

Male life expectancy is 78 years - five years lower than that for women (83 years).

"The fact is, men are more likely to die prematurely from a wide range of causes, and male deaths are greater across all age groups," says Professor Villis Marshall, Director of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men's Health. "Premature deaths take a great emotional and economic toll on families and society."

The leading causes of premature death among Australian men are heart disease (eg heart attack and angina); suicide; vehicle accidents; and lung cancer. Risk factors such as being overweight or obese, not getting any or sufficient exercise, and depression are all major contributors to men's shorter life expectancy."

"The great problem is that there is a significant burden of undetected disease among men," says Professor Gary Wittert, Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Adelaide and leader of the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS). Preliminary results of FAMAS show that of the men aged 35-80 who participated in the study:

• 47 per cent had high cholesterol, but 14 per cent of them were unaware they had it;
• 14 per cent had diabetes, but 4.4 per cent were unaware;
• 60 per cent had hypertension, but 29 per cent were unaware;
• 18.5 per cent had depression, but 6 per cent were unaware.