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Original poster

Left-handed women 40% more likely to die from any cause - wft?

41 replies

RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:09

anyone read the article in yesterday's Torygraph linking to a "study" into lefthandeness and fact that women 40% more likely to die from any cause and 70% more likely to do so from cancer!
How robust this research was, not sure, not an expert but as a Lefthander not exactly reassured, to say the least!

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/05/02/nleft02.xml

OP posts:
Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:11

wtf even!
Sorry, shouldn't swear, even in so abbreviated a form. Maybe it's the damage done to me/my hand in utero that makes me so prone to such language.

Actually & seriously, I'm v worried by this. Would be good if there was more research in this area - talking 10% of the population here!

OP posts:
saltire · 03/05/2007 13:13

Well it includes me

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:14

so what doyou reckon then, read it?

OP posts:
throckenholt · 03/05/2007 13:15

everyone is 100% likely to die - doesn't matter which hand they use !

BikeBug · 03/05/2007 13:20

I don't get this! I mean, were all 100% going to die some day, so you can't be 40% more likely to die can you If you die of cancer or circulatory disease then you're not dying of something else - they could have presented it as LH people less likely to die of those other things. The info I'm looking for (that isn't there, and I haven't got time to track down the original study) is how much earlier they expect LH people to die. If it's 6 months earlier than RH people then it can be statistically significant for their study but clinically neither here nor there (unless it's you and your last 6 months iykwim). Epidemiological studies are not good at giving definite answers to questions - they point to likelihoods, trends and possibilities. I wouldn't worry too much - loads of LH-ers in my family fwiw, and a tendency to live to a ripe old age.

BikeBug · 03/05/2007 13:20

slow typing - x-posted with throkenholt there!

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:21

hah! Than non-lefthanders,obviously!

Guess you're not a leftie then, throckenholt? I know I'm a worrier but as a lefthander I do find these results disturbing - at least more research should be done. Why should lefthanded women be 70% more likwely to get any cancer than other women? It's shocking!

OP posts:
willywonka · 03/05/2007 13:22

lol throckenholt - and that's from from another Southpaw

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:23

am I the only one worried then? Validity of research not withstanding, there's still cause for concern, surely?

OP posts:
Pamina · 03/05/2007 13:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:24

I'd heard that too,pamina but this wasn't due to accidents but to cancer/circulatory diseases etc.

OP posts:
Pamina · 03/05/2007 13:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

thedogsbollox · 03/05/2007 13:25

I have to say, my reaction was the same as Throkenholt. Aren't we all likely to die, irrespective of which hand we use?

quadrophenia · 03/05/2007 13:25

lol at Throckenholt

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 03/05/2007 13:26

Oh statistics poppycock! There are so many statistical factors that could affect someone's likelyhood of early death that it would be pointless to speculate on, on an individual basis!

I am left handed.. but am (apparently) less likely to suffer serious illness than the "average person" (whatever that is!) because I carry a cystic fibrosis gene (rather than 2 which would give me the disease..) Do the two things cancel each other out and make me "most likely" to have an "average" life span?

It's all cack!

And any of us could get mown down by a juggernaut tomorrow.. or, don't tell me, studies indicated that most j-walkers are lefties...

stoppinattwo · 03/05/2007 13:26

Im left handed..................I wouldnt worry somethings gonna get you eventually. and there are hundreds of possible reasons.

LilRedWG · 03/05/2007 13:29

Agree with BikeBug and Throkenholt - very badly written piece, we're all going to die - whether left or right-handed! I actually checked the date to see if written on 1st April!

The only thing this article has done is possible stress left-handed people, so maybe it is self-fulfilling and more left-handers will die from stress related illness as a result of this article.

Don't worry RTTH! You'll live to whatever age you are meant to!

Oh, and I am left handed.

LilRedWG · 03/05/2007 13:30

LOL - ShinyHappyDalek - I was run over by a bus years ago! Maybe it's true...

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 03/05/2007 13:35

Ah but you are ALIVE LilRed! Clearly! Unless posting from the grave..

LilRedWG · 03/05/2007 13:39

Oh yeah, forgot that bit . Maybe my brain got overly squished!

throckenholt · 03/05/2007 13:39

hah! Than non-lefthanders,obviously!

no - but my mum, brother and son are.

So was my nan - she died at 60 or cancer (mum is now 66 so has already done better than her mum.)

I just don't like badly written science.

What they mean is their results indicate that left handed people (women in their study) tend to die earlier. But without a mechanism for that then it is just abstract - it doesn't mean you are left handed you have a short teim limit than those of us who are right-handed.

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:41

well, it may have been badly written and inaccurate/irrelevant correlations found whatever, but it at least calls for better research! Surely it raises a few questions?

Glad you're all unbothered by it though but rather surprised!

OP posts:
Boco · 03/05/2007 13:41

But why 'women' and not men. If there were reasons for it, wouldn't they be the same for left handed men?

Original poster
RanToTheHills · 03/05/2007 13:42

well, exactly, boco! That's why I think there should be more studies done.

OP posts:
throckenholt · 03/05/2007 13:43

now if they had said something like left handers have their brains wired differntly and that predisposes them to x health problems, or that left handers tend to have different plumbing in the arteries then that would be of interest. But even so - you can't change what you were born with and you have very little chance of predicting when and what you are going to die of.