If you give birth late, you live a long time

Women who gave birth to a child in their fifth or sixth decade, on average, live longer than others, reports "Around the World".

The published results of a study conducted by scientists at the University of Utah, USA, show that their brothers also live longer, but not their brothers' wives. This is due to the fact that the same genes are responsible for both life expectancy and the duration of the fertile age.

"If the women in your family give birth at an older age, your chances of longevity are better than others," says demographer Ken R. Smith, head of the research group. "If you have a relative who gave birth to a child after 45 years, then perhaps your family has a good inheritance that promises you a long life."

The scientists used for their research the university database on the population of Utah, which contains information about 1.6 million Mormons and their descendants, and also used the Demographic Historical Research Program of the University of Montreal with its 400 thousand records on the inhabitants of Catholic Quebec, Canada, from 1608 to 1850. Special attention was paid to 11,604 men who lived in Utah from 1800 to 1869, who had at least one sister who lived to the age of 50, as well as 6,206 Quebec men with the same family circumstances who lived between 1670 and 1750. The results of the study are briefly as follows:

1) Women with "late fertility" – those who gave birth at 45 and later – were 14-17% less likely to die in each subsequent year after their 50th birthday than those who did not give birth after 40 years. These data confirmed the results of earlier studies. However, those studies could not determine whether this factor depends on genetic characteristics or on the influence of the environment: lifestyle and nutrition.

2) Men who had at least three sisters, among whom at least one gave birth later than 45 years, were 20-22% less likely to die every year after their 50th birthday than those who had no late-giving sisters. This shows that the same gene can be responsible for the life expectancy of both sexes, and for the duration of the childbearing age of women.

3) The wives of the brothers did not differ from other women in life expectancy, which confirms the genetic explanation of the longevity of the brothers of late-giving women.

Thus, according to Smith, "what many geneticists have argued with can be considered proven: there is a connection between the reproductive function of an organism and its viability, including longevity. It was possible to establish this by the example of human life in that era when there were no modern contraceptives yet."

However, the study is only about those women who conceived and carried a child naturally. Since late childbirth carries a certain danger for both the woman and the unborn child, many doctors demand to tighten the rules of in vitro fertilization for older women.

Portal "Eternal youth" www.vechnayamolodost.ru04.05.2009