Why Menopause?

[ismnotwasm]

Last edited Sun Apr 21, 2013, 12:18 AM - Edit history (1)

This a longish article that links to different studies; also the comments are interesting---fairly polite disagreement. I'm no anthropologist, but I've been a fan of 'the grandmother' theory ever since I read about it. It falls in and out of favor; (and its not referred to by that name here) in, it looks like--with this article.

In the latest issue of Evolutionary Anthropology, three scientists take a closer look at the nature of human menopause. Daniel Levitis of the University of Southern Denmark, Oskar Burger of the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, and Laurie Bingaman Lackey of the International Species Information System started by comparing human biology to that of our primate relatives. Reviewing records from 66 species of primates, they found that in every case females could lived well beyond their last birth. Their post-reproductive life ranged between 25% and 95% of their breeding years.

Taken on its own, this result might suggest that human menopause isn’t anything special. But Levitis and his colleagues caution their readers to take it with a gorilla-sized grain of salt. Most of the records of longevity and births come from zoos, not surprisingly, where primates are well-fed, enjoy the attention of vets, and don’t face a daily threat from predators. Data on wild primates are a lot more sparse, understandably, but the picture that emerges from them is pretty brutal: only a tiny fraction of female primates survive to post-reproductive years.

Humans are different. A substantial portion of the women in any population are post-menopausal. This pattern is not limited to affluent societies. Take the Hadza, a group of people in Tanzania who survive by gathering fruit and killing game. A typical Hadza woman can expect to spend almost half her adult life in a post-fertile state. The slaves of Trinidad experienced some of the most brutal conditions ever recorded–so brutal, in fact, that their population was continually shrinking due to early deaths. And yet even among Trinidad’s slaves, a third of a woman’s adult life, on average, came after her last child.

It seems, then, that there really is something remarkable about the lives of human females compared to other primates. But is menopause what makes them remarkable, or is it just the side effect of something else that evolved in our ancestors? Humans have big brains, for example, and the bigger a primate’s brains, the longer its lifespan tends to be. This link may be due to the fact that big-brained babies demand a huge amount of energy and effort, both during pregnancy and afterwards. Those demands impose a slower pace of life on big-brained primates. So this pattern naturally raises the possibility that big brains in humans led to menopause.

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2013/04/18/why-menopause/

[BainsBane]

1. What's striking is how little doctors know about menopause

and its symptoms. I started getting really bad migraines once a month, and I realized it had to relate to my menstrual cycle. No doctor said to me that happens when you're peri-menopausal, but I learned that it does by talking to other women and looking online.

[Freddie]

2. Something to look forward to

I too used to get horrible monthly migraines and this affliction is *gone* now that I have "menopaused". Get the occasional stress or sinus headache but the true migraines (pain in the temples, aura, etc.) are totally done. Yay.

[BainsBane]

3. I've heard that

Mine have decreased. I may be getting there.

[JDPriestly]

6. Mine went away too, and life got so much better.

[ismnotwasm]

4. I guess blurry eyes, fatigue, memory fugue

All kinds of more or less 'benign' symptoms I've heard. I've heard about migraines in peri-menopausal women.

I figure I'm about half way, with not much to report. Some flushing and irritability at first, then I was good. But possibly related, my menstrual cycle never bothers me either. I never realized I won the genetic lotto on that one until talking to a few women who had a very rough time.

I used to have a half-assed theory on negative self talk, and how menstruation had been negatively viewed for millennia leading to certain symptoms-- but that's no doubt bullshit for the most part, as it's a biological process, and one that effects different girls and women indifferent ways.

[Squinch]

9. NOW you tell me!!!!!

I had that too. Never made the connection.

Jesus.

[JDPriestly]

5. Why menopause?

So women can have fun too.

For women, life begins after menopause. No more cramps. Woohoo!

Men don't stare quite so much so women can do even more of what they want. Woohoo!

In fact, I think that women live longer than men quite simply because life post-menopause is so great.

Are there new physical problems? Yes. But finally you are free. And the more active you are, the better you feel.

[eridani]

7. Because evolution says that grandmas are good for you?

In a species with language, there's lots of lore to pass on.

[ismnotwasm]

8. And that's been the ongoing argument.

At least since Desmond Morris.

Were post-menopausal women eventually required to ensure species survival? There's a lengthy and scholarly PDF in there taking criticizing adaptability as the final word--so to speak-- in evolutionary theory, but in general the Grandmother theory holds up. This round.

[seabeyond]

12. evo psych is such a lazy study. nt

[ismnotwasm]

13. This is evolutionary anthropology

Looking for a biological 'why' for a physical process. It's a topic I've chased on and off for years.

Why do women a significant time past the age of menopause? Is is somehow random, or adaptive? It's kinds of an anti-evo-psych question, because evo-psych often focuses on the psychology behind sexual reproduction.

[CrispyQ]

10. This is a topic I'd never thought about. Interesting.

This was fascinating:

Even insects can benefit from menopause. In species known as the Japanese gall aphid, females stop reproducing midway through their lives. Now that their abdomens are no longer dedicated to growing eggs, they can use that space to manufacture a sticky chemical. When a predator attacks the aphid colony, the menopausal females rush forward and glue themselves to its body. The predator is swamped by the heroic females, which die in the process. The evolutionary forces behind menopause may differ between humans and aphids, but the outcome is the same.

Wow. Nature is so cool.

[seabeyond]

11. ok, this one i put to the side to read later. for a couple DAYS i have been trying to catch up to

you all. putting out wonderful shit all over the place, lol. i am getting there. but i really want to read this one thru, and take my time.

sigh...

what 5, 6, 7, more OPs to catch up on. you women are wonderful.