Parasitic worms and fertility

[Anonymous]

I was listening to a piece on the BBC about this. There's been a recent study with women in Bolivia. Parasitic worm infections--roundworm vs. hookworm infections--one boosted fertility; the other lowered it. The study might prove useful in future innovations of fertility drugs.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2015/11/20/this-parasitic-worm-appears-to-boost-female-fertility/

[Anonymous]

I saw this too. Emailed it to a friend with subject line "Maybe this is my issue." Unf I have not been to Bolivia. Still unexplained!

[Anonymous]

Do these worms even exist in the US? Is there a way to test for it? It seems pretty far fetched.

[Anonymous]

They do exist. I think this is really going to give the pharmaceutical industry a run for its money! If you need an all-natural contraceptive or fertility booster, look no further!

[Anonymous]

I saw an article about this too. Think it was NYT wellness blog. Hope something will result from this discovery.

[Anonymous]

Yes pub med has some great articles using helminths. I came across it doing all of my immune research. It's said to modulate immune response by normalizing Treg cells, which are very important for implantation.

I just wonder how difficult they are to get rid of if you infect yourself with them? I'm pretty sure you can buy capsules or something. They are said to be helpful for people who have autoimmune diseases as well, like MS. I think medical research uses the term helminth so try googling that vs something like round or hook worm and you will probably get some more scientific results.

[Anonymous]

I am so confused by this article. Basically what it says to me is that one kind of worm reduces fertility and one kind of worm doesn't reduce fertility. How does this study attempt to prove that a parasitic worm actually increases fertility. Also, note that all of the 1,000 women studied were very fertile to begin with.