Trying to get pregnant? A new study reveals fertility in women is higher when infected by parasitic worms

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For years, scientists have been trying to use various drugs to alter the immune system of women in hopes of boosting fertility--- so far, all the efforts were to no avail. But, according to a new research, a certain species of helminths or parasitic worms can, actually, enhance fertility among women.

The study, which was published online in the journal Science, found that Ascaris lumbricoides, a type of roundworm, can increase a female's fecundity or capability to produce offspring. For more than nine years, researchers from the University of California has gathered data from 986 Tsiname women who are part of an indigenous group from Bolivia.

These women are known for having a lot of children with an average of 10 offspring in their lifetimes. The data showed that if they were chronically infested with roundworms, they would have as many as 12 children. On the other hand, hookworm infection has a contrasting effect on them with their lifetime births declining to just seven.

Furthermore, the study suggests that roundworm infection is associated with earlier first births and shortened interbirth intervals, while infection with hookworm leads to delayed first pregnancy and longer interbirth intervals.

The researchers also wrote in the abstract of the study that the infection with helminths in the intestines of humans could result in changes in the immune system that might influence conception and pregnancy.

"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," Prof. Allan Pacey, a fertility scientist at the University of Sheffield, told the BBC.

Prof Aaron Blackwell, one of the researchers, from the University of California Santa Barbara said that there was a natural change in the immune system of the women at the time of pregnancy, which is the reason their bodies did not reject the fetus. 

"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 added.

But, Blackwell was also quick to add that, although, the use of these worms as a treatment for fertility was an intriguing possibility, he also cautioned that there is still a need for further studies regarding the matter. He said that they won't be doing any recommendation until such time when future studies were done.