Do Periods Synchronize?
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It is commonly said that when women live together or have close relationships, their periods synchronize. Maybe this has happened to you before with your best friend, mom, or sister, but... are synchronized periods a myth or a reality?
There was a study conducted in 1971 that aimed to find an answer to this question. A researcher asked 135 women living in a university residence to record the start and end dates of their periods. In the end, they had all experienced some form of synchronization.
But why does this happen? What happens to us when we are together? The answer is not clear. This is a phenomenon that is still being investigated and a concrete solution has not been reached.
There are several possible explanations:
Pheromone Hypothesis
The idea that periods synchronize stems from the early 1970s when psychologist Martha McClintock observed curious menstrual patterns in groups of women.
According to McClintock, this happens due to pheromones, substances related to reproduction that some animals emit to send messages and alter the behavior of others. The hypothesis of this psychologist assumes that a woman's menstrual cycle is altered when she smells the pheromones of another. And vice versa, the same thing happens to the other woman so that both cycles are balanced until they coincide.
Same Environment Hypothesis
Another hypothesis that defends the synchronization theory does not look at the direct influence between women but rather at the environmental influence. What does this mean?
When several women live together or spend a lot of time together, it is because they have similar activities and, therefore, similar lifestyles. That is, you and your classmates have the same schedules, do the same activities in the same place, are exposed to the same temperatures, and receive the same amount of sunlight.
Therefore, you are all under the same environmental stimuli. So your bodies adapt in similar ways and, over time, synchronization arises.
Simple Chance
While both hypotheses above are curious, the explanation most accepted by scientists is that of sheer and boring chance.
Scientists are still not in agreement today about the synchronization of periods because there are as many studies that show that it is real as there are studies that say otherwise.
What do you think? Has this happened to you with a friend?
