Gentle persuasion

Gentle persuasion According to reproductive biologists at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, sex even up to a full year before conception helps guard against a litany of ailments. The disorders, which range from infertility to high blood pressure during pregnancy, all appear to be linked to the reluctance of the mother's immune system to accept the foetus and placenta. Both which come with foreign protein from the father. The Adelaide team found sex, …

…acts as a switch transforming a normally hostile reaction from the immune system to the sperm to a friendly one. It is hoped that in the future TGF-beta can be used to treat women who suffer repeated miscarriages or IVF failures. It is also hoped that as scientists begin to understand how the woman's immune system tolerates the foetus for 9 months this information can be used to find cures for autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis.