大多數女性都比男性要長壽，這是千百年來讓人類不解的現象之一。難道女同胞們有獨家長壽秘方？還是上天給了女性特別的鐘愛？科學研究的結果往往出人意料。

The age-old riddle of why many women live longer than men has been solved. It's their pumping power, British researchers have found.

On average, women live five years longer than men and women over the age of 60 are now the fastest-growing section of the British population. The average male heart becomes weaker with age, and by the age of 70 its power to pump blood around the body could have decreased by up to a quarter of its youthful strength.

The research shows that women's longevity is linked to the strength of their hearts. Unlike men, they pump just as strongly at 70 as they do at 20. The power of the male heart falls by 20-25 per cent between 18 and 70 years of age. In stark contrast, over the same period there was no age-related decline in the power of the female heart, meaning that the heart of a healthy 70-year-old woman could perform almost as well as a 20-year-old's. The dramatic difference between the sexes might explain why women live longer. The good news is that men of any age can improve the health of their heart simply by taking more regular exercise.

（北京林業大學通訊員刑元媛供稿 英語點津 Annabel 編輯）