Do you want to live forever? How about a hundred years old? Well, your longevity goals might not be that long, or perhaps you don’t necessarily aspire for immortality, but certain studies have revealed what it takes for you to live longer…
For example, men live longer if they marry a younger woman. Perhaps this is the case because someone is still strong enough to care for the men in their advanced years.
Interestingly, women don’t seem to enjoy the same life-extending benefit if they hook up with a younger mate. According to the article, women even get their lives shortened if their age difference with their husband is quite huge.
Yes, whether the woman is younger or older than the man, a woman’s lifespan gets shortened if she and her husband have a large age gap (i.e., 7 to 17 years). I don’t know why this may be the case, but based on my experience in Philippine society, I can hazard a guess.
Most women tend to take care of their men, regardless of the man’s age. Whether the guy is younger or older than the woman, she tends to pamper him, look after him, and support him in practically all his endeavors.
Now this can be quite stressful, because the woman ends up taking care of practically everything: the house, the children, relationships with friends and relatives, gift-giving, parties, socializing, school and the like.
Men, on the other hand, tend to focus on just one thing: Work. Or play (depending on the mental age of the guy).
In short, if the man is several years younger or older than the woman, she’ll end up living a highly stressed life. I wonder, though, why men have shortened lifespans (according to the article) if they marry older women.
So in summary: If you’re a man who wants to live longer, marry someone several years your junior. If you’re a woman, marry someone close to your age.
As the Vulcans would say: Dif-tor heh smusma (Live long and prosper!)
