Ageing
The stronger sex
Jan 13th 2005
From The Economist print edition
Why do women live longer than men？
WOMEN live longer than men. It is unfair， but true. In developed countries， the average difference is five or six years. In the poor world the gap is smaller， owing to the risks of childbirth. But nowhere is it absent. The question is， why？
That question can be answered at two levels. An evolutionary biologist would tell you that it is because women get evolutionary bonus points from living long enough to help bring up the grandchildren. Men， by contrast， wear themselves out competing for the right to procreate in the first place. That is probably true， but not much help to the medical profession. However， a group of researchers at John Moores University， in Liverpool， England， has just come up with a medically useful answer. It is that while 70-year-old men have the hearts of 70-year-olds， those of their female peers resemble the hearts of 20-year-olds.
David Goldspink， who revels in the title of Professor of Cell and Molecular Sports Science at John Moores， and his colleagues looked at 250 volunteers aged between 18 and 80 over the course of two years. All the volunteers were healthy but physically inactive. The team's principal finding was that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25% between the ages of 18 and 70， while that of the female heart remains undiminished.
Each volunteer's heart function was measured before exercise and at peak exertion on a treadmill. In particular， the researchers measured blood flow and blood pressure. Their subjects were also given an ultrasonic scan to measure the size of the chambers of their hearts， the thickness of the heart's muscular wall， and its filling and emptying actions.
The researchers found that between the ages of 20 and 70， men lose one-third of the contractile muscle cells in the walls of their hearts. Over the same period， women lose hardly any contractile cells. There is a strong link between the number of these cells and the function of the heart. What remains a mystery is why men lose these cells and women do not.
A previous theory of why women outlive men suggested that the female sex hormone， oestrogen， could have a protective effect on the heart. But Dr Goldspink dismisses this idea， saying that there is no discernible drop-off in female heart function after menopause， when oestrogen levels decrease dramatically. However， oestrogen does have a beneficial effect on blood vessels. The study found that blood flow to the muscles and skin of the limbs decreases with age in both sexes. The changes in the structure of the blood vessels occur earlier in men， but women catch up soon after menopause.
It's not all bad news for men， though. In a related study， the team found that the hearts of veteran male athletes were as powerful as those of inactive 20-year-old male undergraduates. But can men really recover lost heart function after a lifetime of inactivity and poor diet？ Is it ever too late to start exercising？ "I think the answer is no，" says Dr Goldspink. "The health benefits to be gained from sensible exercise are to be recommended， regardless of age." So if you are male and getting on， get on with it.
The perfume business Scents and sensibility Jan 20th 2005 | HONG KONG AND PARIS From The Economist print edition
Hutchison Whampoa is buying a troubled French perfume retailer
IT IS the end of a French success story. Twenty-one years ago Marcel Frydman launched Marionnaud after buying his first parfumerie in Montreuil. The firm became Europe's largest perfume chain， with 1，231 shops in 15 countries. Then last year it ran into difficulties， and Mr Frydman decided to seek a buyer. On January 14th， he found one. A.S. Watson， a manufacturing and retailing subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa， a Hong Kong-based conglomerate controlled by Li Ka-shing， struck a deal to buy Marionnaud.
Mr Li will now be the world's biggest perfume retailer. This billionaire's firm already owns eight health-and-beauty chains with more than 4，500 shops in 19 countries. Its focus is the low end of the market， using mass-market brands such as Superdrug in Britain， Kruidvat in the Netherlands and Belgium， and Watsons in Asia. Through Marionnaud， he hopes to add French glamour to such drab offerings. Marionnaud is the market leader at home with a 30% share. It also has big chunks of the Italian， Spanish and Swiss markets.
Yet Mr Li may be underestimating Marionnaud's troubles. At the end of December Mr Frydman admitted to taking a ？93m （$120m） charge to cover accounting errors in 2002-03. On January 11th the AMF， France's markets watchdog， suspended trading in Marionnaud shares and opened an investigation into the group's accounts. Marionnaud's debts are high. Mr Li is paying？534m for Marionnaud， as well as taking over ？350m in debt and an estimated ？350m in off- balance-sheet liabilities， such as rent for shops.
Many of Marionnaud's subsidiaries outside France are leaking money. Only its Austrian operation makes healthy profits. Even at home， Marionnaud expanded too quickly. There are two or even three Marionnaud shops， often only a stone's throw apart， in some commercial streets in France. It would make sense to shut one in three Marionnaud shops in France， says Olivier de Combarieu of Fitch， a credit-rating agency-but the unions would fight it.
Mr Li wants Marionnaud to take on Sephora， a perfume and cosmetics chain owned by Louis Vuitton Mo？t Hennessy （LVMH）， a group of several dozen luxury-goods companies. Sephora， known for its trendy interior and even cooler assistants， has been something of a financial flop for Bernard Arnault， boss of LVMH， though things have improved lately. Ian Wade， managing director of A.S. Watson， believes that his firm can add some of Sephora's panache to Marionnaud， but do it more efficiently. Sephora's financial problems partly stem from its expensive store fittings and pricey brands. Mr Wade plans to cut such costs at Marionnaud by shipping in fittings such as ceilings and floorboards cheaply from China.
Hutchison's ambitions are even bigger for mainland China， where it has 100 drug stores and no upmarket brands. It plans to open some 1，000 shops there by 2010. Marionnaud could be the focus of that expansion， offering a way into China's booming cosmetics market-with sales forecast to rise over 50% by 2010. But first the new owners must sort out the French group's financial woes and get rid of the bad odour coming from its accounts.
The stronger sex
Jan 13th 2005
From The Economist print edition
Why do women live longer than men？
WOMEN live longer than men. It is unfair， but true. In developed countries， the average difference is five or six years. In the poor world the gap is smaller， owing to the risks of childbirth. But nowhere is it absent. The question is， why？
That question can be answered at two levels. An evolutionary biologist would tell you that it is because women get evolutionary bonus points from living long enough to help bring up the grandchildren. Men， by contrast， wear themselves out competing for the right to procreate in the first place. That is probably true， but not much help to the medical profession. However， a group of researchers at John Moores University， in Liverpool， England， has just come up with a medically useful answer. It is that while 70-year-old men have the hearts of 70-year-olds， those of their female peers resemble the hearts of 20-year-olds.
David Goldspink， who revels in the title of Professor of Cell and Molecular Sports Science at John Moores， and his colleagues looked at 250 volunteers aged between 18 and 80 over the course of two years. All the volunteers were healthy but physically inactive. The team's principal finding was that the power of the male heart falls by 20-25% between the ages of 18 and 70， while that of the female heart remains undiminished.
Each volunteer's heart function was measured before exercise and at peak exertion on a treadmill. In particular， the researchers measured blood flow and blood pressure. Their subjects were also given an ultrasonic scan to measure the size of the chambers of their hearts， the thickness of the heart's muscular wall， and its filling and emptying actions.
The researchers found that between the ages of 20 and 70， men lose one-third of the contractile muscle cells in the walls of their hearts. Over the same period， women lose hardly any contractile cells. There is a strong link between the number of these cells and the function of the heart. What remains a mystery is why men lose these cells and women do not.
A previous theory of why women outlive men suggested that the female sex hormone， oestrogen， could have a protective effect on the heart. But Dr Goldspink dismisses this idea， saying that there is no discernible drop-off in female heart function after menopause， when oestrogen levels decrease dramatically. However， oestrogen does have a beneficial effect on blood vessels. The study found that blood flow to the muscles and skin of the limbs decreases with age in both sexes. The changes in the structure of the blood vessels occur earlier in men， but women catch up soon after menopause.
It's not all bad news for men， though. In a related study， the team found that the hearts of veteran male athletes were as powerful as those of inactive 20-year-old male undergraduates. But can men really recover lost heart function after a lifetime of inactivity and poor diet？ Is it ever too late to start exercising？ "I think the answer is no，" says Dr Goldspink. "The health benefits to be gained from sensible exercise are to be recommended， regardless of age." So if you are male and getting on， get on with it.
The perfume business Scents and sensibility Jan 20th 2005 | HONG KONG AND PARIS From The Economist print edition
Hutchison Whampoa is buying a troubled French perfume retailer
IT IS the end of a French success story. Twenty-one years ago Marcel Frydman launched Marionnaud after buying his first parfumerie in Montreuil. The firm became Europe's largest perfume chain， with 1，231 shops in 15 countries. Then last year it ran into difficulties， and Mr Frydman decided to seek a buyer. On January 14th， he found one. A.S. Watson， a manufacturing and retailing subsidiary of Hutchison Whampoa， a Hong Kong-based conglomerate controlled by Li Ka-shing， struck a deal to buy Marionnaud.
Mr Li will now be the world's biggest perfume retailer. This billionaire's firm already owns eight health-and-beauty chains with more than 4，500 shops in 19 countries. Its focus is the low end of the market， using mass-market brands such as Superdrug in Britain， Kruidvat in the Netherlands and Belgium， and Watsons in Asia. Through Marionnaud， he hopes to add French glamour to such drab offerings. Marionnaud is the market leader at home with a 30% share. It also has big chunks of the Italian， Spanish and Swiss markets.
Yet Mr Li may be underestimating Marionnaud's troubles. At the end of December Mr Frydman admitted to taking a ？93m （$120m） charge to cover accounting errors in 2002-03. On January 11th the AMF， France's markets watchdog， suspended trading in Marionnaud shares and opened an investigation into the group's accounts. Marionnaud's debts are high. Mr Li is paying？534m for Marionnaud， as well as taking over ？350m in debt and an estimated ？350m in off- balance-sheet liabilities， such as rent for shops.
Many of Marionnaud's subsidiaries outside France are leaking money. Only its Austrian operation makes healthy profits. Even at home， Marionnaud expanded too quickly. There are two or even three Marionnaud shops， often only a stone's throw apart， in some commercial streets in France. It would make sense to shut one in three Marionnaud shops in France， says Olivier de Combarieu of Fitch， a credit-rating agency-but the unions would fight it.
Mr Li wants Marionnaud to take on Sephora， a perfume and cosmetics chain owned by Louis Vuitton Mo？t Hennessy （LVMH）， a group of several dozen luxury-goods companies. Sephora， known for its trendy interior and even cooler assistants， has been something of a financial flop for Bernard Arnault， boss of LVMH， though things have improved lately. Ian Wade， managing director of A.S. Watson， believes that his firm can add some of Sephora's panache to Marionnaud， but do it more efficiently. Sephora's financial problems partly stem from its expensive store fittings and pricey brands. Mr Wade plans to cut such costs at Marionnaud by shipping in fittings such as ceilings and floorboards cheaply from China.
Hutchison's ambitions are even bigger for mainland China， where it has 100 drug stores and no upmarket brands. It plans to open some 1，000 shops there by 2010. Marionnaud could be the focus of that expansion， offering a way into China's booming cosmetics market-with sales forecast to rise over 50% by 2010. But first the new owners must sort out the French group's financial woes and get rid of the bad odour coming from its accounts.