Young men who smoke are likely to have lower IQs than their non-smoking peers. Tracking 18- to 21-year-old men enlisted in the Israeli army in the largest ever study of its kind, Professor Mark Weiser of Tel Aviv University’s Department of Psychiatry and the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer Hospital has demonstrated that the average IQ of a non-smoker was about 101, while the smokers’ average was about 94. The IQs of young men who smoked more than a pack a day were lower still, at about 90. An IQ score in a healthy population of such young men, with no mental disorders, typically falls within the range of 84 to 116.
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10 April 2010
Men and the Flu
The male tendency to exaggerate flu symptoms finds support, as a new study suggests why this could be so.
health
The online urban dictionary defines the trait of man flu as, ‘The condition shared by all males wherein a common illness (usually a mild cold) is presented by the patient as life-threatening. This is also known as ‘Fishing for Sympathy’ or ‘Chronic Exaggeration’.’ But is this trait a purely psychological condition or is it rooted in their physiology? A new study by Cambridge scientists Oliver Restif and William Amos titled, ‘The evolution of sex-specific immune defences’ published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B(iological Sciences) suggests a plausible scenario. Their work is based on mathematical modelling and draws on ecological reasons rather than reproductive differences to explain the phenomenon.
The paper makes the paradoxical claim that ‘although different reproductive strategies … are not enough to select for different levels of immunity, males and females respond differently to further changes in the characteristics of either sex. For example, if males are more exposed to infection than females (e.g. for behavioural reasons), it is possible to see them evolve lower immunocompetence than females’. And the reason why males are more exposed to infection than females is attributed to their adventurous lifestyles, which include philandering. The model’s counterintuitive prediction was that this lifestyle puts them at a greater risk of infection, which, rather than strengthening their immune systems, weakens it because it would make more evolutionary sense to invest in the ability to mate than in a stronger immune system—simply put, ‘live fast, die young’.
According to Dr Restif, “An increase in male susceptibility or exposure to infection favours the spread of the pathogen in the whole population and therefore tends to select for higher resistance or tolerance in both sexes if the cost of immunity is essential. But above a certain level of exposure, the benefit of rapid recovery in males decreases owing to constant reinfection. This selects for lower resistance in males, ultimately leading to the counterintuitive situation where males with higher susceptibility or exposure to infection than females evolve lower immunocompetence.”
Science Buzz
10 Apr 2010 - 16 Apr 2010
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Fathers give toddlers more leeway and that allows them to actively explore their environments. Kids aged 12 to 18 months (accompanied by a parent) were placed in three risky situations: social risk (a strange adult enters his or her environment), physical risk (toys are placed at the top of a stairway), and a forbidden activity (parents are forbidden to climb the stairs after the child succeeds the first time). “We found fathers are more inclined than mothers to activate exploratory behaviour by being less protective,” says Daniel Paquette, a professor at the Université de Montréal School of Psychoeducation. The findings were published in Early Child Development and Care.
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Dr Rob Knell from Queen Mary, University of London, and Professor Leigh Simmons from the University of Western Australia found the strongest beetle, a species of dung beetle called Onthophagus taurus, could pull an astonishing 1,141 times its own body weight—the equivalent of a 70 kg person lifting 80 tonnes. “Insects are well known for being able to perform amazing feats of strength,” says Dr Knell, “and it’s all on account of their sex lives.” Female beetles of this species dig tunnels under a dung pat, where males mate with them. If a male enters a tunnel that is already occupied by a rival, they fight by locking horns and try to push each other out.”
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