Feeling sick? It may be due to your monthly cycle. Spanish and Austrian researchers studied the effects of the sex hormone estradiol (which triggers ovulation) in mice.
They found that mice that were given estradiol were more likely to develop an infection. The researchers think that women, too, are at greater risk for infection during ovulation, which is the period of time when a mature egg is released from the ovary – usually 12-16 days from the next expected period.
The researchers monitored the ovulating mice and made two discoveries: not only were the mice at increased risk for Candida albicans (yeast infection), but the mice had lower immunity in general during ovulation.
The team concludes that ovulating women are at risk of developing a yeast infection or sexually transmitted diseases.
They believe this vulnerability in a woman’s immune system could explain how a woman is able to get pregnant: the decreased immunity is what allows sperm to survive inside a woman and fertilize an egg successfully.
Still, the lowered immunity during ovulation means that females are at heightened risk of HIV or HPV, says Dr. Miguel Relloso, a researcher at the Laboratorio de Inmunobiologia Molecular at the Hospital Gregorio Maranon and Complutense University in Madrid, Spain, in a press release.
HIV and HPV are viral infections – not fungal infections. An impaired immune system has been shown to increase a person’s risk for developing the conditions.
Ovulation can occur at various times during a woman’s monthly cycle, according to the American Pregnancy Association. Your ovulation can be affected by stress, sickness or an abrupt change in your normal routine. It’s important to track your ovulation cycle if you’re trying to get pregnant – or trying to prevent pregnancy. Some women experience light blood spotting during ovulation or pain near the ovaries.
This clinical study was published in the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.
In the United States, an estimated 1.1 million people are infected with HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). HIV is transmitted through sexual contact of bodily fluids (blood, semen) with mucus membranes (oral, vaginal, anal), and the introduction of infected blood products into the bloodstream (commonly sharing intravenous needles, less commonly blood transfusions).
Mothers with HIV transmit the infection to their child in utero about 25% of the time in the absence of treatment. Early infection with HIV may produce flu-like symptoms of fever, nausea and vomiting, headache, and fatigue, then disappear. HIV may take up to ten years to progress to AIDS. The virus destroys CD4+ white blood cells and opens the body up to diseases and infections that the body would normally be able to fight off (pneumocystis pneumonia, cytomegalovirus, fungal infections, toxoplasmosis) and rare cancers (Kaposi’s sarcoma, Burkitt’s lymphoma, primary lymphoma in the brain).