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Genetics, Hormones May Help Women Live Longer Than Men

BOSTON (CBS) - Women live longer than men all over the world and throughout the animal kingdom, but why?

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) believe it's due to a combination of genetics and hormones.

Most women have two X chromosomes while men typically only have one and having two x chromosomes seems to help extend life. But researchers found that when mice had two X chromosomes and functioning ovaries releasing hormones, like estrogen, they lived even longer, suggesting it's both genetics and hormones that help females outlive males.

Experts believe nature made it this way to ensure that females would be around long enough to care for their offspring and perhaps the offspring of their offspring, in other words, the grandchildren.

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