Posted on 07/10/2004 4:41:30 PM PDT by wagglebee
Scientists believe they may have unlocked the secret of why women tend to live longer than men.
It is all down to motherhood. The cells from the developing baby pass into the mother's bone marrow during the early stages of pregnancy.
The scientists say these cells may rejuvenate the mother's own, repair damage and fight disease, prolonging her life. The findings, in today's Lancet, could explain why women who have had children are less likely to develop arthritis, multiple sclerosis and breast cancer.
Professor Nick Fisk, a specialist in foetal medicine
at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, said they have found that stem cells from the foetus are stored in the mother's bone marrow and some had changed into bone.
All the women in the study who had sons had male stem cells in their bone marrow.
Professor Fisk said: "Every time a woman gets pregnant she gets a shower of stem cells that can fight disease."
He said more research needed to be done to find out if the stem cells in the mother's body protect against some disease but contribute to the cause of others.
Great news. I've had several children and now expect to live a very long time.
I wish that more information had been included in this article. For example, did the studies compare lifespans of women who had not had children?
I have also read numerous reports on the declining of womens' longevity in recent decades, and this was tied to their more commonplace entry into the labor force and away from the role of the traditional "stay at home" wife of times past, suggesting that women were now being "worked to death" just as men always have been.
New line... "Hey Baby, wanna live longer?"
How does this explain crotchety old nuns that were in my grade school?
Nice post. Thanks.
Good points.
Mom ping!
We weren't their kids.
I know there are exceptions, but this seems like a lot of junk science. So, girls, don't go out there and get pregnant just to live longer.
Or maybe, when you're a Mom, it just seems longer...
Gee, I wonder if the pro-aborts will use this information to get pregnant, derive the life lengthening "benefit" from the fetus, and then have an abortion at their convenience?
Hehehe I'm sure they glad I wasn't ;-)
Wow, and people told me 4 kids were too many!
I was thinking the same thing.
Same here. ; )
It's junk science IMHO.
I think you've got it.
No WAY am I having kids just for some "disease-fighting stem cells."
Maybe this is why there is a Bible verse,
I Timothy 2:15
But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.
On the other hand the life expectancy difference between men and women is only about 2 - 3 years, so I'm not that concerned.
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