CHILDREN OF YOUNG MOTHERS LIVE LONGER
If you want to live to be 100, make sure that your mother is under 25. That’s what scientists at the University of Chicago say after analysing historical data on 198 centenarians born in the United States between 1890 and 1893. They found that first-born children were 1.7 times more likely to live to 100. The reason, they surmise, is the age of the mother (but not of the father). Why? Perhaps a younger woman’s eggs are more youthful; perhaps a younger woman has not been exposed to as many diseases and infections and therefore provides a healthier environment in the womb. The study was presented to the Gerontological Society of America’s annual meeting.
- How long can you put off seeing the doctor because of lockdowns? - December 3, 2021
- House of Lords debates assisted suicide—again - October 28, 2021
- Spanish government tries to restrict conscientious objection - October 28, 2021
More Stories
Assisted suicide numbers in Oregon continue to rise
In 1997, Oregon became the first jurisdiction to legalise physician-assisted suicide for people with a terminally illness. Since then numbers have increased...
Belgian softens penalties for illegal euthanasia deaths
Belgian doctors can be prosecuted if they administer euthanasia without regard to the specified conditions. But however serious the infraction...
What does the world’s ‘low-fertility’ future look like?
Decades of fretting about over-population and encouraging contraception and abortion have succeeded. But the dream of zero population growth has...
Contradictory attitudes towards people with Down syndrome
March 21st was World Down Syndrome day. The event is supposed to foster awareness of Trisomy 21, as the condition...
The Gambia on track to reverse ban on female genital mutilation
In the United States, Australia, and Europe there can be no cause more popular, more humane, and more progressive than...
Some Americans are disposing of their costly frozen embryos
The cost of storing frozen embryos is steadily rising in the United States, prompting some people to have them destroyed....