Men are more likely to be devoted and loyal husbands when they lack a particular variant of a gene that influences brain activity, researchers announced — the first time that science has shown a direct link between a man’s genes and his aptitude for monogamy.
The finding is striking because it not only links the gene variant, which is present in two of every five men, with the risk of marital discord and divorce, but also appears to predict whether women involved with these men are likely to say their partners are emotionally close and available, or distant and disagreeable.
The presence of the gene variant, or allele, also seems predictive of whether men get married or live with women without getting married.
“Men with two copies of the allele had twice the risk of experiencing marital dysfunction, with a threat of divorce during the last year, compared to men carrying one or no copies,” said Hasse Walum, a behavioral geneticist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm who led the study.
“Women married to men with one or two copies of the allele scored lower on average on how satisfied they were with the relationship compared to women married to men with no copies.”
About 40 percent of men have one or two copies of the allele. Walum said that men with two copies of the allele had a greater risk of marital discord than men with one copy, and that men with one copy of the allele were at more risk of such discord than men with no copies.
Several independent scientists called the discovery remarkable and elegant but disagreed over whether such information ought to be used in making personal decisions about love and marriage. Walum said that the presence of the allele increased the risk of conjugal discord, but that many other factors probably shape marital behavior.
Smoking riskier to women’s hearts
Women who smoke have heart attacks about 15 years earlier than women who don’t smoke, Norwegian doctors reported Tuesday in a study presented to the European Society of Cardiology.
For men, the gap is not so dramatic; male smokers have heart attacks about eight years earlier than men who don’t smoke.
Norwegian doctors found that the men on average had their first heart attack at age 72 if they didn’t smoke, and at 64 if they did.
Women in the study had their first heart attack at age 81 if they didn’t smoke, and at age 66 if they did.
Doctors have long suspected that female hormones protect women against heart disease. Estrogen is thought to raise the levels of good cholesterol as well as enabling blood vessel walls to relax more easily, thus lowering the chances of a blockage.
Researchers said smoking might make women go through menopause earlier, leaving them less protected against a heart attack.
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