Male castration: The easiest way to live to 100?
Men die younger than women, says Thomas Kirkwood in Scientific American. But there might be a straightforward way to fix that...
It's well known that women outlive men by about five to six years, says Thomas Kirkwood in Scientific American. But the reasons why have long been murky. Hypotheses built around lifestyle choices — that women are better at avoiding stress or unhealthy habits like smoking — fall short. To truly answer the question, we must take "a wider biological perspective": Since women carry and nurse babies, their long-term health is more important from an evolutionary context than males'. Here, an excerpt:
In fact, high levels of testosterone, which boost male fertility, are quite bad for long-term survival. ... As many dog and cat owners can attest, neutered male animals often live longer than their intact counterparts. Indeed, the evidence supports the notion that male castration might be the ticket to a longer life.
Might the same be true of humans?... The historical record is not good enough to determine if eunuchs tend to outlive normal healthy men, but some sad records suggest that they do. A number of years ago castration of men in institutions for the mentally disturbed was surprisingly commonplace. In one study of several hundred men at an unnamed institution in Kansas, the castrated men were found to live on average 14 years longer than their uncastrated counterparts. Nevertheless, I doubt that many men —myself included — would choose such a drastic remedy to buy a few extra years.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read the entire article in Scientific American.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'A speaker courageous enough to stand up to the extremists in his own party'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
How could the Supreme Court's Fischer v. US case impact the other Jan 6. trials including Trump's?
Today's Big Question A former Pennsylvania cop might hold the key to a major upheaval in how the courts treat the Capitol riot — and its alleged instigator
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 18, 2024
Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - impeachment Peanuts, record-breaking temperatures, and more
By The Week US Published