A study published in the journal Science says the Ascaris lumbricoides, a type of roundworm, affects the immune system and can make women more likely to conceive. Being infected with a type of parasitic worm could help women fall pregnant, according to scientists.
A study published in the journal Science says the Ascaris lumbricoides, a type of roundworm, affects the immune system and can make women more likely to conceive, as well as have more children.
The findings come from research involving 986 women in Bolivia.
The average family size for Tsimane women in the South American nation is a staggering nine children - and about 70 per cent of the population has a parasitic worm infection.
The study states: "Infection with roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) is associated with earlier first births and shortened interbirth intervals.
"(This) may have important effects on human fertility that reflect physiological and immunological consequences of infection."
The discovery could lead to "novel fertility enhancing drugs" in the future.
Prof Allan Pacey, a fertility scientist at the University of Sheffield, urged cautious optimism over the findings."Whilst I wouldn’t want to suggest that women try and become infected with roundworms as a way of increasing their fertility, further studies of the immunology of women who do have the parasite could ultimately lead to new and novel fertility enhancing drugs.", He concluded.
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