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Is the female menopause a direct link to human evolution?
The average age of human life, up until the industrial revolution some 300 years ago, steadily increased from approx 40 years to between 60 or 70 years. Nowadays we can expect to live to between 70 to 90 years, maybe even longer. My question is this; if the menopause occurs in modern middle-aged women, roughly between 45 - 55 years old, does this mean that it never happened to women when life expectancy was much younger?
Has there ever been any scientific research into this and if so, what were the results? If there hasn't been, do we know that a menopause is a natural phenomenon, or is it a limit nature has imposed for a certain reason? The results of this could be fascinating if it never occurred previously, and just as interesting if it did! I am posting this to both the science & biology questions and also religion & spirituality as I think the answers from both communities could be great to read...
6 Answers
- ?Lv 71 decade agoFavorite Answer
I have been working on this evoloution thing. Actually, I am having trouble. I don't know about any one else, but I still have only two arms, two legs, and no eyes in the back of my head. I want four arms so I can play flute and piano at the same time so I can be my own accompanist. I can decide to evolve, right? I hear on nature shows all the time that this fish decided to grow legs and walk on land, and whales came out of the water and turned into cows, and then turned back into whales. So it should be no problem to evolve into a four armed human. It is just a matter of deciding to do it. Can you offer any suggestions? I would appreciate it.
- 1 decade ago
Its not described in literature that menopause would have occurred earlier in ancient times. There hasn't been a big change like that in human biology.
The life expectancy in older times might have been skewed by high rates of infant mortality. That doesn't mean that women didn't live up to the age of their 50s.
Remember that Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was already in her ninety's when she gave birth to Isaach but this was all the more miraculous because she has already passed her menopause. A similar story is recorded at the conception of John the Baptist: "Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." (Luke 1:18)
- CantankerousLv 71 decade ago
All age-related changes are related to human evolution. Once you pass the prime child-bearing years evolution stops working for you, so traits that only improve health later in life will never be selected for.
- 1 decade ago
Uh.. maybe? People only lived about that length at one point. Granted there was also a time people lived to around 30.
Although at some point your eggs get too old and you are no longer reasonably capable of this anymore. Probably a large part of it. We can't just keep making fresh like you men.
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- ?Lv 61 decade ago
I don't know, but that sounds right.
I remember reading that cancer is currently at unprecedented levels, but part of that is because of an increase due to people living longer. Essentially, the longer you live, the more likely you are to have at least one instance of cancer.
