 | I am quoting below from the Dr. Spock discussion on handededness:
Some research has suggested that left-handed people die sooner--in one case, several years sooner!--than right-handed ones. Other, larger studies have found very little, if any, difference. On the other hand, it seems clear that left-handed children and adults have a greater risk of hand injury, and perhaps injury in general, because many tools (including power tools) are available only in right-handed versions.
The research that showed that left-handed people die earlier was found a couple of years ago to be flawed. It turns out that the lower number of older left-handed people was attributable to the fact that back when people in the oldest age cohorts were very young, many people were still forced to use their right hands. Consequently, many natural left-handers "became" right-handed. When this fact was considered, the actual life-spans of left and right-handed people was found to be the same.
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