Date: Sun, 7 Jul 1996 10:26:00 -0400 (edt)
From: Sam Damon <damon@dorsai.org>
Subject: Left-handedness, immune function and sexual orientation

> That is, left-handedness is also more prevalent in males than females.  You
> also comment about immune-system disorders in left-handers...and I also
> recall immune system disorders being more commen in males than in females.

I have not read all the studies carefully yet so I can't comment.  The
theory relating handedness to immune function was first proposed by Geschwin
and Behan in 1982.  Geschwin and Galabura later extended their hypothesis to
include AIDS in 1987 with a focus on the role of testosterone.

The two best studies on this topic are:

Merchant-Haycox SE, McManus IC, Wilson GD.  Left-handedness, homosexuality,
HIV infection and AIDS.  Cortex 1991;27:49-56.  (British cohort)

Becker JT, Bass SM, Dew MA, Kingsely L, Selnes OA, Sheridan K.  Hand
preference, immune system disorder and cognitive function among gay/bisexual
men: The Multicenter AIDS cohort study (MACS).  Neuropsychologia
1992;30(3):229-235.  (Large MACS cohort of 1612)

In general, neither study found a correlation between immune diseases and
handedness, although they disagreed in some aspects.