Contraceptive pill influences partner choiceAugust 13, 2008The contraceptive pill may disrupt women's natural ability to choose a partner genetically dissimilar to themselves, research at the University of Liverpool has found. Disturbing a woman's instinctive attraction to genetically different men could result in difficulties when trying to conceive, an increased risk of miscarriage and long intervals between pregnancies. Passing on a lack of diverse genes to a child could also weaken their immune system. Humans choose partners through their body odour and tend to be attracted to those with a dissimilar genetic make-up to themselves, maintaining genetic diversity. Genes in the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC), which helps build the proteins involved in the body's immune response, also play a prominent role in odour through interaction with skin bacteria. In this way these genes also help determine which individuals find us attractive. The research team analysed how the contraceptive pill affects odour preferences. One hundred women were asked to indicate their preferences on six male body odour samples, drawn from 97 volunteer samples, before and after initiating contraceptive pill use. Craig Roberts, a Lecturer in Evolutionary Psychology who carried out the work in collaboration with the University of Newcastle, said: "The results showed that the preferences of women who began using the contraceptive pill shifted towards men with genetically similar odours. "Not only could MHC-similarity in couples lead to fertility problems but it could ultimately lead to the breakdown of relationships when women stop using the contraceptive pill, as odour perception plays a significant role in maintaining attraction to partners." University of Liverpool |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Related Contraceptive Pill Current Events and Contraceptive Pill News Articles Study links water pollution with declining male fertility New research strengthens the link between water pollution and rising male fertility problems. The study, by Brunel University, the Universities of Exeter and Reading and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, shows for the first time how a group of testosterone-blocking chemicals is finding its way into UK rivers, affecting wildlife and potentially humans. Taking the contraceptive pill may reduce the risk of developing cancer Taking the contraceptive pill does not increase a woman's chances of developing cancer and may even reduce the risk for most women, according to a study published on bmj.com today. New research finds that a natural family planning method is as effective as the contraceptive pill Researchers have found that a method of natural family planning that uses two indicators to identify the fertile phase in a woman's menstrual cycle is as effective as the contraceptive pill for avoiding unplanned pregnancies if used correctly. New male contraceptive targets sperm, not hormones Men and women have long been promised a male version of the female contraceptive pill. But the first new male contraceptive to market may not be hormonal at all. Fundamental facts about environmental hormones: text of speech by Dr Susan Jobling at the BA Festival of Science 2004 Fundamental facts about environmental hormones European Water Directive: Optical sensors detect minute amounts of pollutants Minute amounts of organic pollutants-including oestrone-can now be detected in river water as a result of a new optical sensing instrument realised in a project funded by the EU's Environment Programme. What's really in your St John's wort tablets? The real amount of active ingredient in over-the-counter St John's wort "varies greatly" and can be up to 114% of the amount on the label, according to new study in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Few women have heard of virus associated with genital warts (HPV) and its link with cervical cancer Few women have heard of the virus associated with genital warts (HPV), or are aware that it is linked to cervical cancer, reveals a study in Sexually Transmitted Infections. UK Study Underlines Safety Of Contraceptive Pill For Non-smokers (p 185) Latest findings from a UK study established 35 years ago to assess the health outcomes for women using the contraceptive pill during the 1970s and 1980s are published in this week's issue of THE LANCET. The key finding from the study highlights no increased risk of death from any cause (except cervical cancer) for non-smoking pill users; however among heavy smokers the study findings suggest a moderate increase in the risk of death from ischaemic heart disease in women who used the contraceptive pill compared with non-smoking pill users. As part of the Oxford Family Planning Association study, Martin Vessey from the Institute of Health Sciences, Oxford, UK, and colleagues examined death as New leads in the development of an oral contraceptive for men Latest research at Oxford University’s Glycobiology Institute has provided new leads towards the development of an oral contraceptive for men. The advantages of the substance at the centre of the research, an alkylated imino sugar (NB-DNJ), are that it does not affect reproductive hormones, its effects are easily reversed and it is undergoing clinical evaluation in other contexts. More Contraceptive Pill Current Events and Contraceptive Pill News Articles |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||