After receiving over 1, responses and narrowing it down to pairs of users whose cycles occurred at similar times, they tracked three consecutive cycles for each pair. Here are their most significant findings:.
Side note: We're thrilled to catch a glimpse of all the possibilities that can come from opting into research with a period-tracking app. As the Cleveland Clinic tells us, period syncing often comes down to a simple matter of time, rather than any kind of biological phenomenon.
Hormonal birth control , stress , medications, health conditions, and disordered eating can all interrupt your usual cycle. While the study from the app team and Oxford doctor never moved past the "pilot" phase and into a peer-reviewed journal, the sample size was the largest compared to past studies. If you're interested in moving fertility and reproductive health research forward, check out what we're working on at Modern Fertility and get in on the action.
So, feel free to keep on knowingly nodding when friends or family members ask to borrow a tampon. English Taylor is a San Francisco-based writer and birth doula. This is a space for us to talk about health, fertility, careers, and more. All people with ovaries are welcome including trans and non-binary folks! Apr 01, 5 min read. This article was last updated April Periods Myth Busting. Some people have their period every 21 days, while others see their period begin every 35 days.
Some people experience bleeding for a week, while others only bleed for a day or two. Some people have regular periods, while others have cycles that are less regular. With odds like that, it's highly likely that at some point you and a friend, roommate, or coworker will both be experiencing bleeding at the same time.
While most long-term studies have not been able to prove the idea of period syncing, that doesn't mean you aren't experiencing it. When you and your bestie sync up it's possible that pheromones may be at play, but more likely than not it's just pure statistical coincidence — and sadly not a sign of your tight bond. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App. Click here to learn more. A leading-edge research firm focused on digital transformation.
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Various studies have been conducted to examine menstrual cycle patterns of roommates, close friends, coworkers, and family members. After comparing data for roommates, close friends who spent a lot of time together, and living groups, McClintock found that the difference between onset dates decreased over the course of the year for the women who spent the most time together.
Subsequent studies have produced similar results. There is limited research on what may cause menstrual synchrony, but the most common hypothesis has to do with pheromones—airborne, odorless, chemical signals produced by the skin, which animals use to share information about sex and reproduction. Recent human studies involved placing cotton pads under the arms of women who were in the follicular phase of the menstrual cycle the first two weeks before ovulation occurs , to collect their sweat and pheromones.
The cotton pads were then wiped on the upper lips below the nose of another group of women, who thought they were controls in the experiment, three times a week for at least five months.
Some pheromone researchers have found that women vary in their sensitivity to certain chemicals. Furthermore, the specific compounds that may affect menstrual synchrony have not yet been identified. There is much speculation over possible biological advantages of women menstruating together.
Some researchers hypothesize that in a tribal environment, people had to cooperate to survive, and synchronized menstrual cycles may have provided some survival advantage among a community of women. Others suggest that women give off a pheromonic signal during the part of the menstrual cycle when they are most fertile, which indicates to men that it is a good time to have sex.
In prehistoric times, men took multiple wives, and if the wives were on different cycles a man may pick up a pheromonic signal from one woman but choose the wrong one to have sex with, thus decreasing the likelihood of reproducing. If all of the women were fertile at the same time, he could not go wrong! Critics of menstrual synchrony raise a variety of research deficiencies in studies supporting the theory: flawed statistical methods, small sample sizes, sampling biases and uncontrolled confounding factors.
They also point out that since the length of the menstrual cycle varies from woman to woman, two women with cycles of different lengths will not ever actually synchronize. In one study analyzing the length of the menstrual cycle, researchers argue that if two women have 28—day cycles, the maximum amount of time that they both cannot be having their periods is 14 days.
Because women normally have their period for about five days, an overlap is likely. It is interesting to note that many of the arguments against menstrual synchrony come from men, while research supporting the phenomenon is often conducted by women. There is evidence from both human and animal studies supporting the health claim. However, there are also a number of fair criticisms of this research. So no one can claim to have the last word on this one!
McClintock MK. Menstrual synchrony and suppression. Menstrual synchrony ABC Online website. Accessed November 6, Menstrual synchrony: fact or fiction ? Go Ask Alice! Positive relationship between menstrual synchrony and ability to smell 5alpha-androsten-3alpha-ol. Chem Senses.
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