Yahoo Sports So, it turns out having sons can actually make you age quicker...
If you're a parent to boys, you might wanna listen to this. A study has found that having sons can make you age quicker in comparison to those who have daughters.
Published in the National Library of Medicine journal, the study – which looked at the cognitive decline of 13,222 parents – found that having sons is connected to long-term health issues.
"We found that cognition deteriorated faster in mothers and fathers of sons than in those without any sons," the researchers said of the findings, adding that "mothers of sons have been observed to have increased cardiovascular mortality". This follows previous research, also cited in the journal, that found a correlation between raising sons and maternal long-term health outcomes, such as dementia.
As for what the cause might be, the researchers said: "Aspects of parenting sons shared by both parents might play role in cognitive aging. For example, daughters are more likely to show positive affect and sociability, while sons have higher activity levels."
What's more, the researchers noted that "it is possible that parents of sons are more likely to be disadvantaged later in life as daughters provide more social support than sons and more often become informal caregivers."
Because of this, the study points to the effect as being "social [rather] than biological".
Fear not though, as amidst the seeming doom and gloom, the study's researchers said there are some benefits to having sons. "Parents of sons are less likely to divorce," the study notes. "And being married has been linked to better cognitive functioning in later life."
Research aside, any parent will agree that the love of a child far outweighs the downsides of aging quicker. And after all, this is just one study...
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