Left-handed women have a higher risk quotient. A study suggested that left-handed women have a greater risk of dying. South paws are associated with various health disorders like cancer and cardiovascular diseases and hence, have a shorter life span. Statistics show that one in every ten women is left-handed. The life span of around 12,178 women was tracked to authenticate earlier findings which pointed to the fact that lefties are under-represented in the older age groups. It was observed that the south paws had a 40 percent higher risk of dying from any cause, 70 percent higher risk of cancer and 30 percent higher risk of dysfunctions in the circulatory system. Researchers, however, admit that the findings are still debatable.
The reason for this occurrence is still a mystery. Scientists believe that genetic and environmental factors could be involved. A hypothesis that prenatal insult leads to left-handedness and eventually, shorter life spans has triggered much of the research into the relation between mortality and handedness. Left-handed women have known to be greater prone to diseases like breast cancer, colorectal cancer and cerebrovascular mortality. Scientists are hoping that their research would provide them the leads to suggest that mortality is indeed connected to handedness. Till then, lefties cannot heave a sigh of relief.