Though overall life expectancy varies around the globe, it is true for pretty much any country you look at that females live longer than males. There are many factors assumed to play into this, such as a later onset of cardiovascular disease for females compared to males, but a new study from a team of researchers led by Jan Dumanski of Uppsala University has found a correlation between loss of the Y chromosome and early death, in addition to an increased risk of cancer. Their findings were published in Nature Genetics.
The most common place to identify the age-related loss of the Y chromosome (LOY) was in the white blood cells, which play a role in tumor suppression. One cohort found that about 8.2% of the men with non-hematological cancer had LOY, and those individuals lived an average of 5.5 shorter than those with the Y chromosome in tact. An independent cohort found that about one in five men had LOY and died earlier, regardless of the cause.
Read the full, original story: Loss of Y Chromosome Increases Risk for Cancer and Early Death
