Parasitic Worm May Make Women More Fertile

The research findings hold great importance, as it can help in the development of new fertility improving medication. In addition, they were also found to have two more children than women who weren’t infected with any of the worms. A giant worm of humans, Ascaris lumbricoides, is an infection that produced two extra children in Bolivia.

Globally, the Tsimane women from Bolivia are often considered the most fertile with an average of 10 children during their lifetime. According to him, the effects showcased by the parasitic worms are triggered due to the infections changing the pregnant woman’s immune system making her less or more prepared for a pregnancy.

Not all worms are created equal, though.

Over a billion people worldwide, mostly in tropical areas with grave sanitation concerns, are affected by intestinal worms.

The difference might have to do with how parasites alter their hosts’ immune systems.

Previous studies have shown the role of the immune system in pregnancy, as it adjusts itself to allow for the growth and function of a fetus in a pregnant woman’s body.

The report, “Helminth infection, fecundity and age of first pregnancy in women”, discusses a long term study of ways that parasites, specifically roundworms and hookworms living in Tsimane women, affect the ability of the women to reproduce. Though the new findings could open up new types of treatments for those having trouble getting pregnant, women should not try to increase their chances of getting pregnant by trying to get infected with the roundworm.

The researchers estimated that hookworm-stricken females would likely mother three fewer kids than uninfected ones, while roundworm-infected women would have two additional ones.

Led by Prof. Aaron Blackwell, of the Department of Anthropology at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB), the study found infection with different species of helminths – a class of intestinal parasitic worms -… Tsimane women infected with roundworm had shorter birth intervals.

However, as he told BBC News, while using roundworms as a way to boost fertility may seem like an “intriguing possibility”, he cautioned that there was far more research that needed to be done “before we would recommend anyone try this”.

Parasitic earthworm infection results in fever, anaemia, difficulty breathing as well as results in fatal complications in a few instances.