"It's advantageous to the species if these people stick around," said Cedric Puleston, a demographer at Stanford. "By increasing the survival of men, you have a spillover effect on women because men pass their genes to children of both sexes."
Evolutionary theory says individual organisms should die of old age when their reproductive lives are complete - generally around 55 years old in people. Humans, of course, routinely defy this notion. Life expectancy in industrialized countries these days is 75 to 85 years, with mortality increasing gradually, not abruptly, following female menopause.
Scientists don't really have an explanation, just hypotheses. The "grandmother hypothesis" suggests women enhance the survival of their children and grandchildren by living long enough to care for them, thus increasing the success of their genes.
Something similar, the scientists said, might apply to older men. They may not be caring for the children or grandchildren, but they are making more of them.
MEDTRONICA
Vegetarian Channel
www.thevegetarianchannel.com
An expansive portal to all things vegetarian and vegan, with news, products, recipes and practical lifestyle tips, such as how to find appropriate meals on the road or on a date.
In 1992, a 27-year-old Welsh man named Andrew Thomas was laid off from his job at a local supermarket. Unable to find work, Thomas retreated to his home, where he apparently did nothing but sleep and watch TV, getting dressed once a week to retrieve his unemployment check.
One day, he got up at noon and watched 14 hours of TV. He was found dead in his bed the next day. An autopsy failed to reveal a cause of death. Ironically, the late Mr. Thomas received two job offers in the mail just a week after his demise.
DOC TALK
Foreverectomy - a surgical procedure that lasts a very long time
PHOBIA OF THE WEEK
Kathisophobia - fear of sitting down
BODY OF KNOWLEDGE
There are roughly 5 million hairs on the average human body; just 170,000 to 200,000 of them reside on the scalp.
GET ME THAT. STAT!
Roughly 11% of people are left-handed, up from just 3% in 1900. The reason or reasons for the increase is not known.
OBSERVATION
The person who takes medicine must recover twice, once from the disease and once from the medicine.
- Canadian physician William Osler (1849-1919)
EPITAPHS
Recorded on a tombstone in Albany, N.Y. (1914):
Harry Edsel Smith
Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on the way down. It was.
NEVER SAY DIET
The world's record for speed-eating huevos rancheros is held by Richard LeFevre, who consumed 7.75 pounds of the spicy Mexican egg dish in 10 minutes on March 18, 2006.
BEST MEDICINE
Two elderly couples were enjoying a friendly conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was that memory clinic you went to last month?"
"Outstanding," Fred replied. "They taught me all of the latest psychological techniques - visualization, association - it's made a huge difference."
"That's great! What was the name of the clinic?"
Fred went blank. He thought and thought, but couldn't remember. Then a smile broke across his face and he asked, "What do you call that red flower with the long stem and thorns?"
"You mean a rose?" asked his friend.
"Yes, that's it!"
Fred then turned to his wife.
"Rose, what was the name of that clinic?"
STOCK UP ON VITAMIN B
Has your exercise partner been leaving you in the dust lately? Maybe you're not getting enough B vitamins. Oregon State University researchers found that athletes deficient in key B vitamins, including B-6, B-12, folate, riboflavin and thiamin, felt more pain sooner, were unable to work out as hard or as long and took longer to repair tissue and build muscle. Good sources of B vitamins are turkey, bananas, tuna, whole grains and low-fat milk.
WATCH WHAT YOUR KIDS WATCH
Is your youngster just dying to see the latest slasher flick? Try to get him enthused about a PG alternative. A Dartmouth Medical School study found that 9-to-12-year-olds who were not allowed to watch R-rated movies were almost half as likely to smoke or drink. Those who watched with a parent had a lower risk of smoking. A study from the University of North Carolina connected watching R-rated movies to having sex before the age of 17.
