Study Finds Eunuchs Outlive Other Men
Posted on September 27, 2012
A new study has found that eunuchs outlive other men. The study, reported in Current Biology, found that castrated men living in Korea centuries ago outlived other men by a significant margin. These men either lost their reproductive organs in accidents (typically from dog bites) or were purposely castrated in order to gain early access to the palace.
The research study involved analyzing genealogy records of noble members of the Imperial court of the Korean Chosun dynasty (AD 1392-1910). Eunuchs during this time period were allowed to marry and adopt castrated boys or normal girls. Kyung-Jin Min of Inha University and Cheol-Koo Lee of Korea University found that eunuchs lived 14 to 19 years longer than other men did. Amongst the 81 eunuchs they studied, three lived to the ripe old age of 100 or more, a feat of longevity that is still relatively rare even in developed countries today.
Lee notes that it can't be explained simply by the benefits of life in the palace. Most eunuchs spent as much time outside the palace as they did inside it. The researchers also found that palace life wasn't particularly helpful for longevity. Kings and male members of the royal family had the shortest lives of all, typically surviving only to their mid-forties.
Min said in a statement, "This discovery adds an important clue for understanding why there is a difference in the expected life span between men and women."