Mother who have daughters live longer. / 딸을 가진 엄마가 더 오래 산다?

 

<Mother who have daughters live longer.>

 Many mothers believe that sons are more difficult to care for than daughters. A new study says there may be some truth in what those mothers say. The study examined mothers who lived more than 100 years ago. It showed the women who had many sons did not live as long as women who had many daughters.

 

 Scientists from Finland and Britain examined family records for the Sami people who lived in northern Europe between the 17th and 19th centuries. One of the scientists was Virpi Lummaa of Cambridge University in England. The Sami were a people who traveled from place to place to follow groups of reindeer because they depended on the animals for food. They did not have modern medicine.

 

 She said her team found that the length of a woman’s life was not connected to the number of children but to the sex of the children. Women who raised many sons had the shortest lives. The study said that giving birth and raising each son reduced a woman’s life by an average of 34 weeks. The study also found that having a daughter increased a woman’s life by an average of 23 weeks. Among the Sami, women with many adult daughters had the longest lives.

 

 Samuli Helle of the University of Turku in Finland helped supervise the study. He says the reason for this difference may be linked to fewer problems giving birth to and caring for a daughter. He noted that daughters often help their mothers with work in the home. He said this could make life easier for women who had many children.

 

 The scientists also noted that there could also be biological reasons for this. Male fetuses produce the hormone testosterone that might suppress the mother’s defense system against disease. The scientists also noted that baby boys often weigh more than baby girls. This results in more problems for mothers when giving birth. Baby boys also require more care after birth. 

 Summary

- 아들에 비해 딸들이 더 많이 엄마를 도움. 

- 남자 아기들이 체중이 더 많이 나감.

- 남아가 만들어 내는 테스토스테론 호르몬은 엄마의 면역 체계를 약하게 할 수있음.

--> 이러한 요인들로 인해 딸을 가진 엄마가 아들을 가진 엄마에 비해 더 오래 산다.