Is Being Left Handed Hereditary?

[paul is 0n nt]

My brother, my dad, and myself are all left handed. Is it?

 

[everydaykicks]

Im the only lefty in my family besides my aunt..

 

[paul is 0n nt]

Funny you mentioned your aunt because when I made this thread, I only meant my immediate family but I have a few cousins that are left handed too.

 

[gettin it crackin]

Nope. My dad is left-handed, although he writes with his right hand (when he was a kid, he was forced to write with his right hand), and nobody else in myfamily is left-handed.

 

[jay y kay]

i doubt it. i'm lefthanded but my father, mother, sister, grandpa, grandma are all right handed.

 

[club27]

Originally Posted by EveryDayKicks

Im the only lefty in my family besides my aunt..

same here

 

[djphame1]

i thought every 1 in 3 kids was left handed..i got 2 brothers.. 1 is left handed..

 

[presequel]

how bout when you're the only left handed one in the family......then u meet some lost cousins and he/shes like oh yeah me too.

 

[paul is 0n nt]

Originally Posted by djphame1

i thought every 1 in 3 kids was left handed..i got 2 brothers.. 1 is left handed..

I thought it was 10% of the world is left handed?

 

[buggz05]

my granddad was left handed, my lil sis is, and I'm ambidextromethorphius

vv ambidextrous but I thought I'd mix another one of my favorite words in there

 

[young dr0]

^ you are what ?

 

[bruza]

it can't be. i'm the only one in my immediate family. i have an uncle (or two) thats left handed which is it. its completely random.

 

[cool hand Luka]

whats the deal with lefites dieing like 10 years earlier than righties... man that really bites at me sometimes

 

[paul is 0n nt]

Originally Posted by hpscots0906

whats the deal with lefites dieing like 10 years earlier than righties... man that really bites at me sometimes

I heard that too... Man what gives!!

Or maybe I heard it wrong and lefties live 10 years longer than righties...

 

[phyzxs]

Originally Posted by hpscots0906

whats the deal with lefites dieing like 10 years earlier than righties... man that really bites at me sometimes

i heard that too... but that doesnt make sense at all. there is no way to prove that is true

 

[rayfizzle]

it is hereditary, not necessarily your immediate family though.

 

[first round draft pick]

I'm ambidextrous, but when it comes to sports I'am a lefty. (i.e basketball: shoot w/my left hand) (Football/Baseball: Throw with my left hand)
I think the reason why I'm ambidextrous is because when I was a kid I did used my left more than my right and then my dad started forcing me to use myright.

 

[buggz05]

I do mainly everything with the right, but my left is just as natural tho. For skill things, like playing piano, I prefer the left, I shoot hoops with theright, but switch up with the left unknowingly sometimes. I beat with the left.

 

[paul is 0n nt]

[h2]Lifespan of Lefties?[/h2]
Where have all the lefties gone?
Star Tribune, March 4, 1993
Lewis Cope

About 13 percent of Americans are left handed, but only about 5
percent of those in their fifties are left handed. A recent study by
Robert Glynn concluded that left handed people live as long as
right-handers suggesting that the fact that their are fewer left
handers among older people can be accounted for by pressure to
become right handed. The author of earlier studies which claimed
that left handers live less long, Stanley Coren, believes that left
handers have a higher rate of deaths from accidents because tools,
driving customs etc. favor right handers.
The fact that there are a higher proportion of left handers among
younger people and that younger people have a higher proportion
of accidents has allowed both Coren and Glynn to claim that the
other has not answered the question. Coren can claim that Glynn,
by limiting himself to subjects over 65, has taken out the very
group where the danger of being left-handed has an effect. Glynn
can claim that Coren by not controlling for age will necessarily
find a shorter lifetime for left handers just because there are more
left handers among the younger people and younger people have a
higher accident rate.


http://www.southpawmanifesto.com/blog/2007/04/lifespan_of_lefties.html

It was done in 1993... so take it for what it's worth...

---

Shorter life-span for lefties?
01/05/2007 11:41 - (SA)


New York - A study suggests that women who are left-handed have a higher risk of dying, particularly from cancer and cerebrovascular disease - damage to an artery in the brain or an artery that supplies blood to the brain.

While it could be a chance finding and the evidence is far from conclusive, numerous reports have associated left-handedness with various disorders and, in general, a shorter life span, Dutch researchers note in their report in the journal Epidemiology.

"Left-handers are reported to be underrepresented in the older age groups, although such findings are still much debated," write Dr Made K Ramadhani and colleagues from University Medical Centre Utrecht.

It is estimated that about 1 in 10 people are lefties.

Among 12 178 middle-aged Dutch women the researchers followed for nearly 13 years, 252 died.

'Increased risk' of dying

When left-handed women were compared with the other women, and the data were adjusted for a number of potentially confounding factors, lefties had a 40% higher risk of dying from any cause, a 70% higher risk of dying from cancer, and a 30% higher risk of dying from diseases of the circulatory system.

Left-handed women also had a 2-fold increased risk of dying from breast cancer, close to a 5-fold increased risk of dying from colorectal cancer, and more than a 3-fold higher risk of cerebrovascular mortality.

The underlying mechanisms remain elusive, although genetics and environmental factors may be involved, Ramadhani and colleagues suggest.

Much of the research into handedness and mortality has been fuelled by the hypothesis that left-handedness is the result of an insult suffered during prenatal life, which ultimately leads to the early death.

Scepticism and doubt

The author of a commentary, Dr Olga Basso, who is left-handed, is highly sceptical, in general, of research relating disease and death with handedness.

"I am not alone in thinking that the literature on handedness suffers from a number of ills," regardless of the putative illnesses seen in those who are left-handed, she notes.

Basso added: "Having successfully dodged a number of disorders, I doubt that my left hand is prematurely pulling me toward my grave."

Basso is with National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.

Source: Epidemiology March 2007.

http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,,2-10-1462_2106910,00.html

This one is a little better since it's more updated.

 

[acidicality]

isn't it like only 1/1000 people are ambidextrous or whatever? i'm not sure, but i know a couple people that write with their left hand but shootbaskets with their right...

 

[apowell11]

my dad is left handed, his dad is left handed, my brother is left handed and im right handed. so im gonna say NO.

 

[jnukes]

No, it isn't.

It's just basic human nature. Pretend you were just a little kid again, and your dad, whichever hand dominant, is teaching you how to swing a baseball bat.You're going to mimic his exact movement to do it. And that could be taken into anything, such as writing, throwing. And the more you use a certain hand,the stronger, and more comfortable it becomes. But most parents nowadays want to raise their children right-handed since a lot of tools today require use ofthe right hand...

 

[r3dm4n jr]

I'm pretty sure it's just how you grow up and whichever hand you use is totally random.

 

[breakinyourankles]

My dad, brother, mom, and every one of my family members I've seen write are right handed.
I was originally left handed. But my parents wanted me to switch to my right hand when I was little 'cause it was hard for them to teach me how to write orsomething. I wish I was still left handed. Lefties have such a nice shot!

 

[kdwallace]

I'm the only one in my family - except for a cousin of my dad's.

My wife's mom has 3 brothers and they are all left handed. Strange.