Motherhood may make women smarter and help prevent Alzheimer's by bathing the brain in protective hormones. Tests on rats show that the ones who raise two or more litters of pups do better in tests of memory and skills than rats who have no babies. Their brains also show changes that suggest they may be protected against Alzheimer's.
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Mothers who have complained through the centuries that their sons will be the death of them may be right -- a Finnish study shows having boys shortens a woman's life span. Each son takes an average of 34 weeks off a woman's life, says evolutionary biologist Samuli Helle. On the other hand, having daughters adds, but only very slightly, to a...