Left-handed women may have a shorter life-span

There is some evidence that left-handed women may have a shorter life span than right-handed women. Reuters reports of a recent Dutch study indicating that after adjusting for a number of potentially confounding factors:

"lefties had a 40 percent higher risk of dying from any cause, a 70 percent higher risk of dying from cancer, and a 30 percent higher risk of dying from diseases of the circulatory system."

"Left-handed women also had a 2-fold increased risk of dying from breast cancer, close to a 5-fold increased risk of dying from colorectal cancer, and more than a 3-fold higher risk of cerebrovascular mortality."

The underlying mechanisms remain elusive and there are certainly doubters. Dr. Olga Basso, who is left-handed, is highly skeptical, and noted "I am not alone in thinking that the literature on handedness suffers from a number of ills."