Left Handed


If you are left handed, you probably realize you are in the minority. In fact, only about 10% of the population are "southpaws" or "lefties," as left-handed people are sometimes called. This trait is thought to be primarily genetic (inherited) or congenital (present at birth). In the latter case, it is hypothesized the left-handed is the result of exposure to abnormally high levels of testosterone in the womb.

Left-handedness can be not just an inconvenience but a marker for a number of autoimmune disorders, especially thyroid disease and inflammatory bowel disease, which  encompassess Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. In addition, being left-handed has been linked to some behavioral problems. Some of these problems, however, may be partly the result of parents or teachers trying to force lefties into being righties, a practice that is still widespread in some parts of the world.

A Dutch study found preliminary evidence that left-handed women are increased risk for developing premenopausal breast cancer. But the news is not all bad for southpaws. Lefties appear to have better memories than righties, as well as an advantage in hand-to-hand combat. And according to the French study, they tend to excel at such sports as baseball, tennis, and fencing.


Several surveys indicate that there is more left-handedness in the young than in the old. Some researchers contend that this is the result of social presssure to become right-handed. Other, more skeptical or some might say sinister, scientists claim that the dearth of left-handed elders means that left-handedness predisposes humans to an early death.


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