Relationship between age of menopause and cell-mediated immune hypersensitivity in right- and left-handed women.

The aim of this work was to study the relationship between age of menopause and cell-mediated immune hypersensitivity in right- (N = 32) and left-handed (N = 15) women who had experienced menopause after age of 34 at least one year before interview. Age of menopause was higher in right-handed than left-handed women. Cell-mediated immunity was higher in left-handers than right-handers. Hand-preference correlated with age of menopause, but inversely correlated with tuberculin reaction and percentages of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes; age of menopause correlated with cell-mediated immunity. The results suggested that early menopause in left-handed women may be due to a more active immune system, especially cell-mediated immunity.