Scientists from New Zealand have found that the removal of reproductive organs in rams contributes to the prolongation of life. Experts do not exclude that castration can be a radical, but effective way to prolong the life of men. The corresponding study is published in the journal eLife.
It is noted that in mammals, females usually have a higher life expectancy than males. At the same time, both farmers and scientists know that removing the testes from rams can prolong their life by 60 percent. However, the mechanisms underlying longevity were unclear.
To understand what is happening at the DNA level, New Zealand scientists teamed up with the American geneticist Steve Horvath, who invented the epigenetic clock — a way to measure biological age using DNA analysis. The researchers used them to measure biological aging based on chemical labels. It turned out that neutered rams have a slower aging rate compared to non-castrated males.
According to other studies, castration prolongs the life expectancy of laboratory rodents, domestic cats, and dogs. In addition, in the XIV-XX centuries, eunuchs at the court of Korean kings lived more than their male contemporaries. Similar results were shown by a study conducted among patients of a psychiatric hospital in the United States.
