Mental Health

Are Men Responsible for Menopause in Women?

By Kanika Gupta | Update Date: Feb 24, 2016 10:42 AM EST

The symptoms of menopause can all be blamed on men, say experts. Geneticists from McMaster University of Canada say that a man's inclination to choose a younger mate meant that fertility in women became useless after they became old. In PLOS Computational Biology, as a result, it led to menopause in women. However, an expert from UK said that this was the wrong way to look at it. The men chose younger women because the older ones became less fertile. Researchers say that humans are the only species in which females cannot reproduce all their lives.

However, the recent theory suggests that things work the other way and that the lack of reproduction is the reason why the bodies of women adapted to menopause. The team of researchers are McMaster's used computer modeling to conclude "preferential mating" as the evolutionary answer, as men of all ages started to mate with younger women, older women had no reason to remain fertile anymore, The Star says

Prof Rama Singh, a reputed geneticist and lead author of the study said, mean who choose to mate with younger women were "stacking the odds" against persistent fertility. As told to BBC, "There is evidence in human history; there was always a preference for younger women." Prof Singh also added that they are analyzing the development of humans, thousands of years ago and not the social patterns followed today.

Prof Singh stressed they were looking at human development many thousands of years ago - rather than current social patterns. In UK, 52 is the average age for a woman to go through menopause and continue to live for another 30 years. He said that long life coupled with later cases of childbirth may change the menopause timing over a period of time. "The social system is changing. There are women who are starting families later, because of education or a career," as reported by Telegraph

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