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Hwy. 48, Pefferiaw 705-437-1734 or 1-800-481-8455 Older mothers more likely to give birth to left-handed kids If you are left-handed and your mom isn't, chances are she was over the age of 30 when you were born and it was a difficult delivery, according to a recent Canadian survey. Dr. Stanley Coren, an ex- perimental psycologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, found that older mothers were much more likely to give birth to left-handed babies. This may be because older women experience more difficult pregnancies and deliveries, he suggests. Coren says that he and other researchers have consistently shown that left-handedness in- creases with birth stress. He conducted a survey of 2228 first-year students at the univer- sity and asked them their own and their mothers' ages. It was.then simple to work out how old the mothers were when the students were born. He also asked whether the students and their mothers were right-handed or left-handed. Using mothers between the ages of 17 and 24 as his base of comparison, Coren found that mothers between 30 and 35 had a 25% higher chance of their offspr- ing being left-handed. When a mother was 35 to 39 the likelihood increased to 69%. And a mother 40 or over had a 128% higher chance of having a left-handed baby. Coren says these 'pathological' left-handers form a separate group from 'genetic' left-handers who inherit the trait from one or both parents. He cites comparable statistics on 'genetic' left-handedness. If both parents are left-handed, there is a four in 10 chance of their children being left-handed. When only the mother is left-handed, the LASLIN % Don INSTA-FLAME CEM The Loader In Gas Firapiscs Technology Saale ING. STORE-WIDE SAVINGS 19% Off Fibre-glass Wicker Table any regular priced FIREPLACE TOOL or WOOD HOLDERS 10% Off * Ducane Gas Grills (the best BBQ you'll ever buy) * Any Woodstove or Woodburning Insert * Any Pre-built or Custom Fireplace Door or Screen Sale & Offer Expires Dec. 24, 1990 | pia el TTI ( $I00. OFF with the purchase of any gas fireplace, stove or insert y cup THIS coupon AnD SAVE! X 1487 SIMCOE ST.N., OSHAWA (north of Taunton) - EXTENDED CHRISTMAS HOURS - Mon. & Tues. 9 to 5:30; Wed., Thurs. Fri. 9 to 9; Saturday 9to 5 434-3878 possibility is about two in 10. For some reason, if only the father is left-handed, the odds are only about one in 10. "Age of the mother seems to be a powerful factor in influencing left-handedness in children" says Coren. He suggests that various stress factors, common among older mothers, may cause their children to be born left-handed. These factors include prolonged labour, breathing difficulty at birth, low birth weight and a delivery involving forceps. Researchers do not know for certain why and how such stress causes left-handedness, but Cor- en believes at least part of the reason is that lack of oxygen and/or compression of the newborn's head during delivery damages its delicate nervous system. There are between 17 and 23 neural pathways, or brain cen- tres, involved in controlling the dominating hand explains Coren. If just one of these neural pathways "is messed up it's possi- ble you won't develop the handedness you were genetically targeted for,' he adds. "There is huge compression on the brain while the baby is in the birth canal," he says. "If labour is prolonged, that compression can affect the blood flow in the fetus and may systematically starve these neural centres of oxygen." Hormonal imbalance in mother during pregnancy may also cause left-handedness in her offspring, he suggests. The hormone testosterone plays an important role in neural development in the * fetus. If too much or too little of the hormone is passed from mother to fetus during pregnan- cy, it may affect the rate at which the two halves of the brain grow. "Normally the left hemisphere, PLEASE 33% RECYCLE THIS PAPER INSTALLATION LABOUR Help us keep our installers working over the winter and you can save 1/3 on our regular installation rates. which controls the right hand, develops later but for a longer period of time," explains Coren. "But if something interferes, like hormonal imbalance, the left hemisphere might not develop as much as it would, so it has less control over the right hand. This increases the chance of the in- dividual being left-handed." Smoking and drinking alcohol during pregnancy might increase a mother's testosterone levels, he says. Such 'neurological disorganiza- tion' underlies not only 'pathological' left-handedness but also a range of problems which left-handers experience more than right-handers. These include sleeplessness, migraine headaches and allergies, says Coren. He has studied the causes of right and left-handedness and the way handedness affects our lives, for more than 20 years. Apparently it's bad news for the lefties. In earlier surveys Coren found that left-handers are 89% more likely than right-handers to injure themselves in accidents at home, work and play or on the highway. Left-handers are also shorter, lighter and reach sexual maturi- ty a few months later than right- handers. What's more, left-handers have a shorter lifespan than everyone else. For every year after the age of 33, they are one or two percent more likely to die than right- handers. Coren first showed this in a detailed survey of dead Major * League baseball players. These findings are further supported in a soon-to-be published study he helped conduct in California, - which involved examination of the death certificates of, and in- terviews with relatives of, 1,000 randomly-selected adults. AY Free Estimates OSHAWA WINDOW AND DOOR CENTRE dBDASHWOOD' Call Us Today 436-1344