Women's Day Special: Why menopause may be a good thing
Who is best suited to write about the topic of 'female menopause '? Naturally, women who have gone through menopause , such as Susan P. Mattern, a researcher in history at the University of Georgia in the United States, who has written a book, The Slow Moon Climbs: The Science, History, and Meaning of Female Menopause . Susan Mattern wants to challenge the 'common sense' about menopause. Is menopause really a disease? Is it possible that the early loss of fertility in women is not a 'mistake', but an 'advantage'? Menopause is an evolutionary advantage Of all the animals in the world, only three are known to have menopause - orcas, short-finned pilot whales, and humans. The rest of the animals can reproduce until they die. Take our close relative, the chimpanzee, for example. Chimpanzee fertility peaks at 25 to 30 years of age and then gradually declines, reaching zero at about age 50. But 50 years is also about the limit of chimpanzee lifespan; in the ...