The scientists studied nine years’ worth of data from 986 women from indigenous Tsimane women living in the Amazon rainforest in Bolivia. That was when they made a decision to have a baby.
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Other experts in the field began surmising whether she might be right on this one. A parasite, such as A. lumbricoides, has the same effect. Especially the timing of the pregnancy was markedly influenced by the helminths. Women infected with hookworm had “delayed first pregnancy and extended interbirth intervals” leading to less children overall. “We think the effects we see are probably due to these infections altering women’s immune systems, such that they become more or less friendly towards a pregnancy”, he said.
Medical researchers discover a roundworm which appears to increase fertility in women during infection. Generally, it’s been thought that parasites, worms included, can weaken people, and aside from causing diarrhea and abdominal pain, could also make it harder for infected women to bear child. The hookworm’s impact on a woman’s body may make it less likely that she will conceive, Martin explains.
The group will continue the study, and in a follow-up investigation, hopes to directly measure the effects of parasitic worms on the human immune system. About 30% population of the world has such infections.
Scientists in the College of California at Santa Barbara collection information from about 1,000 Tsimane ladies and found individuals who’re have contracted roundworm tend to be more fertile in comparison to individuals have contracted hookworm. “It is not often appreciated that helminth infections are the”, he says.
Blackwell points out that they did not investigate the severity of the infections. It was found that around 70% of the women in the community were infected with the parasitic worm. On average, these women had two more children during their lifetime. Most of the fertility levels of females in occidental societies have taken a nosedive.
The research findings hold great importance, as it can help in the development of new fertility improving medication. There are so many bad things that have good effects that to start naming them is a formidable task.
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“UCSB anthropology professor Michael Gurven, a study co-author, said that while they are yet to know the exact mechanism behind the findings, they suggest that” immune modulation, through worms thriving in the intestines, can greatly affect the body. For the women in Bolivia, it apparently resulted in an average of two more children than non-infected families.
