ONE in three men in South Africa suffer from heart-related conditions, financial management institution Liberty revealed this week.

The statistics are based on claims the company paid out in 2012.

"One in three men claimed because of a heart attack or other heart-related condition," Nicholas van der Nest, divisional director of risk products at Liberty said.

Medical officer at Liberty, Dr Philippa Peil, said TB was the leading cause of death in SA in 2009 with HIV the sixth leading cause of death in men and eighth in women.

"The common reasons for claims received in 2012 were for cancer, heart conditions and strokes. These accounted for about 80% of critical illness claims while cancer and cardiovascular problems were responsible for roughly 40% of life-cover claims over the same period," he said.

Peil said the biological differences in the sexes explained why women and men suffer from different illnesses.

"Oestrogen protects women by increasing their good cholesterol and decreasing their bad cholesterol.

"Males have higher bad cholesterol than females, which increases their risk of heart disease," Peil said.

Van der Nest said women outlived men because their hearts aged differently .

"Men's hearts lose 20-25% pumping power from age 18 and 70. In the same period there is no age-related decline in the power of a female heart, meaning that a healthy 70-year-old woman's heart can perform almost as well as any 20 year old," he said. - bambalelep@sowetan.co.za