The researchers also found that for these benefits to happen, the grandmother had to be nearby and available to help in raising her grandchildren. If the grandmother was living, but a distance away, the beneficial effect was not seen. In addition, they found grandmothers were more likely to die when their own children reached menopause and could no longer have children. This phenomenon appears to be the result of social rather than biological reasons, Tremblay says. There may be a biological component, but that cannot be supported in this study, he adds. Tremblay's team plans to follow up the study by looking at the role of grandfathers and grandparents from both sides of the family. "The message is that the presence of grandparents can improve the success of raising children," he says. Mike in Brazil Dr. Kristen Hawkes, a professor of anthropology at the University of Utah, comments that "this analysis shows the impact that postmenopausal women have on the reproductive success of their kids and the survival of their grandchildren." Hawkes points out in her editorial in the same journal issue that humans have an unusually long adult life compared to other primates. It may have something to do with grandmother's role, she says. A lot of people think the increase in life expectancy seen over the last 160 years is the reason why there are more elders around, but "the fraction of adult women over 45 is essentially indistinguishable across really big shifts in life expectancy over time," Hawkes says. 8th street latinas "While all kinds of things are changing our reproductive rates, it should not blind us to a deeper pattern in our evolution which makes us age much more slowly than other apes and may be the consequence of the key role that grandmothers play," Hawkes says. More information The National Women's Health Information Center has more information on menopause, while Becoming Human from Arizona State University can tell you more about human evolution.