You can not resist the charm

2017/04/18 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Anatomia/Fisiologia

It is not strange that there are so many myths around reproduction, since it is a vital function for the survival of the species. Many of the myths are, moreover, authentic. Perhaps that is why some consider them to be true, even in those cases where science has shown that they are just myths.

This is the case of the full moon and the births. Many are convinced that in the Full Moon more children are born than in other nights, even though numerous studies carried out around the world have shown that belief is totally wrong.

They are similar to those of the month. For example, a month ago a letter entitled Hilekoa eta ilargia was published in this same newspaper. The author, Martxel Aizpurua, explained in a concise and clear way that the Moon does not affect the menstrual cycle. He acknowledged that “the human being is associated with certain rhythms of the universe.” For some it seems that it has more strength this charm than the scientific explanation of Aizpurua.

For the exclusion of superstitions is even more difficult when a scientific investigation is added to the charm, even though its error was later evidenced.

An example of this is the tendency to synchronize monthly payments. In fact, in 1971, the journal Nature published a study in which it was shown that the menstruations of the women who live together are united. At that time, feminism was gaining strength and for some it was very attractive that idea of biological unity among women.

In this way, the research was greatly expanded and, subsequently, it was reinforced and hypotheses have been formulated that explained the monthly synchronization. Some have been based on pheromones, others on evolutionary theory — if all women are both fertile, a dominant male is prevented from monopolising females. But neither some nor others have been able to demonstrate the reason for synchronization.

There is no synchrony. In recent years, more than one research has shown that the results and conclusions of that 1971 study were erroneous and that menstruations are not synchronized even in cases where the relationship is very close. The last one has been published now. Directed by the University of Oxford and based on data from 1500 volunteers. They have seen the opposite: there is no tendency to synchronize. Moreover, in women who at the beginning of the study had unified cycles, over time they tend to differentiate them.

However, with an intermediate (though ancient and erroneous) scientific research, and with such attractive hypotheses in favor of synchrony, more research may still be needed to rule out belief.

 

Published in the newspaper Berria.