Cathy Woodgold (woodgold at seismo.emr.ca) wrote:
: Women tend to live longer than men.
: I also heard that married women live shorter than unmarried women,
: while married men live longer than unmarried men.
There was a fascinating study carried out by one of the large German
insurance companies in the 70s and early 80s. They were just collecting
data to update their actuarial assessments, but they also published
some of their findings. Married men (German ones at least!) do live
longer. the example they gave was some 500 Catholic priests and and
equivalent number of Protestant ones. The latter had a life expectancy
10 years longer than the unmarried Catholics!
Perhaps it isn't about junk food but power. Dictators (the ultimate
in power?) seem to live long if they don't get shot so does power
preserve? In which case a traditional marriage may act in the same way
prolonging the life of the man and shortening the life of the woman?
Dave
