Name: 更年期有什麼意義？| BBC 創意 (What's the point of the menopause? | BBC Ideas)
Uploaded: 2025-06-17T14:42:15.000Z
Duration: 5 min 34 s

What does half the human population have in common with these?

一半的人類與這些有什麼共同之處？

程度副詞

Toothed whales, which include orca or killer whales, are one of the few species of animal who live long enough in the wild to experience the menopause.

齒鯨（包括虎鯨或殺人鯨）是為數不多的在野外生活足夠長的時間以經歷更年期的動物物種之一。

Other wild animals tend to keep reproducing until they die.

其他野生動物往往會不斷繁殖，直到死亡。

But for us women, and these whales, there's a much longer period of what biologists charmingly call our post-reproductive lifespan.

但是，對於我們女性和這些鯨魚來說，生物學家稱之為 "生殖後壽命 "的時間要長得多。

Now the theory of evolution tells us that the characteristics which make us better adapted for survival and reproducing are the ones that will get passed on to the next generation.

現在，進化論告訴我們，那些能讓我們更好地適應生存和繁衍的特徵會遺傳給下一代。

So from that point of view, menopause doesn't seem to make any sense.

是以，從這個角度來看，更年期似乎沒有任何意義。

Because once you've lost your fertility, it should be the end of the line.

因為一旦你失去了生育能力，那就應該是終點了。

That's got me thinking, what is the point of the menopause?

這讓我想到，更年期的意義何在？

I thought I was having a nervous breakdown.

哭泣、恐懼、悲傷、情緒低落。

I fought him for a few days, but it was off the scale.

我和他打了幾天，但都不分勝負。

Let's start with what might look like the most straightforward explanation for the existence of this thing, which can cause women such an array of difficult symptoms.

讓我們先從最簡單的角度來解釋這種會給女性帶來一系列症狀的東西的存在。

As we all know, we humans are living for longer than ever before.

眾所周知，我們人類的壽命比以往任何時候都要長。

Thanks to advances in medicine and our overall quality of life.

感謝醫學的進步和我們整體生活品質的提高。

So maybe we reproduce up until the point where we're supposed to end our natural lives and actually we're artificially enhancing the length of our lives.

是以，也許我們一直繁衍到我們應該結束自然生命的那一刻，實際上我們是在人為地延長我們的生命。

But that's not true when you look at these orcas.

但當你看到這些虎鯨時，你會發現事實並非如此。

They cease reproduction halfway through their lives and there's not been any kind of investment in ocean-based healthcare.

它們在生命的一半時間裡就停止了繁殖，而在海洋醫療保健方面卻沒有任何投資。

So it's just thrown open that question completely.

是以，這個問題完全被拋開了。

There's also an argument that having babies past a certain age isn't a good idea anyway.

還有一種觀點認為，超過一定年齡生孩子無論如何都不是個好主意。

And it's the idea that because it's medically more dangerous for both mother and child to keep having children into your 60s and beyond, we've evolved a way of stopping that happening.

我們的想法是，從醫學角度看，60 多歲甚至更老的時候繼續生孩子對母親和孩子都更危險，是以我們發明了一種方法來阻止這種情況發生。

But recent research suggests that from an evolutionary perspective, those dangers are not statistically significant enough to justify such a dramatic response.

但最近的研究表明，從進化論的角度來看，這些危險在統計學上並不顯著，不足以成為做出如此激烈反應的理由。

And our friends, the toothed whales, have helped us understand what that might be.

我們的朋友，齒鯨，幫助我們理解了這可能是什麼。

In years when the fish stocks are very low, these older females will really take the lead and guide the family to the pockets where they know the food is.

在魚類資源非常稀少的年份，這些年長的雌魚會真正起到帶頭作用，引導全家到它們知道食物在哪裡的地方去。

The males that have their mum with them at their side get into fewer fights and have fewer scars on their bodies.

有媽媽陪在身邊的雄性打鬥較少，身上的傷疤也較少。

Groups that have post-reproductive females, their grandchildren, their grand-offspring actually have a better chance of survival.

有生殖後的雌性、它們的孫子、孫女的群體實際上有更大的生存機會。

So there's clearly something going on in that family dynamic that means that there is a really fundamental role in post-reproductive life.

是以，在這種家庭動態中顯然發生了一些事情，這意味著在生育後的生活中起著非常重要的作用。

And it's the grandmothers of the human family who may hold the key to the menopause mystery.

而人類家族中的祖母們可能是解開更年期之謎的關鍵。

Research has shown that having a grandmother nearby, an older and wiser female figure who can help with caring, significantly improves the survival rate of her grandchildren.

研究表明，如果身邊有一位祖母--一位年長而睿智的女性形象，可以幫助照顧孫輩，這將大大提高孫輩的存活率。

This has led to what's known as the grandmother hypothesis.

The argument is that it's actually a better investment to ensure the survival of your descendants than to keep trying to have children yourself.

這種觀點認為，與自己不斷嘗試生育相比，確保後代的生存實際上是一種更好的投資。

A connected theory also says that if grandmothers kept having their own children at the same time that their grandchildren were being born, there would be too much competition for the same resources.

還有一種相關的理論認為，如果祖母們在孫輩出生的同時不斷生育自己的孩子，那麼同樣的資源就會出現過多的競爭。

For me, having children and grandchildren of the same age running around together would frankly be too exhausting to even think about.

對我來說，讓同齡的孩子和孫子一起跑來跑去，坦率地說，想都不敢想，太累了。

It links into so much about social bonds, family lives, reliance on each other, wisdom and knowledge, and our lifespan that's really fundamental to us as human beings and how we're connected to other people.

它與社會紐帶、家庭生活、相互依賴、智慧和知識、我們的壽命等諸多方面息息相關，而這些正是我們作為人類的根本，也是我們如何與他人聯繫在一起的根本。

The truth is we're not 100% sure why menopause has evolved.

事實上，我們並不完全清楚更年期的演變原因。

But what's heartening is that there's a much greater understanding of it and women are becoming more empowered to access support if they need it.

但令人欣慰的是，人們對這一問題有了更多的瞭解，婦女也越來越有能力在需要時獲得支持。

It feels like we've almost just woken up to how much impact menopause has on lives, but it doesn't impact just the individual, it impacts everybody around them.

更年期對生活的影響有多大，我們似乎才剛剛意識到，但它影響的不僅僅是個人，而是周圍的每一個人。

We know there are short-term effects of menopause on an individual in terms of symptoms and they can be helped, but there's also massive long-term implications of hormonal lack.

我們知道，更年期會對個人的症狀產生短期影響，這些影響可以得到緩解，但荷爾蒙缺乏也會產生巨大的長期影響。

Women exert the largest influence on the coming generations and if we look after women, we look after the coming generations.

婦女對後代的影響最大，如果我們關愛婦女，就是關愛後代。

Women are living longer, healthier lives after menopause, which then in turn could mean they can use their vast wisdom and experience to benefit wider society.

婦女絕經後壽命更長、更健康，這反過來又意味著她們可以利用自己豐富的智慧和經驗造福更廣泛的社會。

What we need is support from the medical profession, more understanding from workplaces, and generally much more awareness.

我們需要的是醫學界的支持、工作場所的理解以及更普遍的認識。

Menopause shouldn't be taboo or a dirty word, so maybe what really needs to evolve now is society's attitudes.

更年期不應該成為禁忌或髒話，也許現在真正需要改變的是社會的態度。

That's what women need, we need support in this phase of life.

這正是女性所需要的，在人生的這個階段，我們需要支持。

We are going to reclaim our life and we're going to go forward and we're going to live it.

我們要重新找回自己的生活，我們要勇往直前，我們要活出自己的精彩。