"The idea gained a lot of attention in the early 1970s, when Dr Martha McClintock published the first scientific paper on menstrual synchrony. In it, she observed students living in a college dorm, and determined that women who live in close proximity or share a common environment experience a convergence of their menstrual cycles. This became known as the McClintock Effect."
"Some suggested that the shift may be the result of olfactory cues or pheromones which accelerate or delay the menstrual cycle. But more recent studies that have been more rigorously designed have generally failed to show any synchrony between menstrual cycles in women living together, says Dr Jewel Kling, chair of women's health at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. And research has failed to show how the body would even trigger this effect."
Menstrual synchrony is the belief that women who live in close proximity will align their menstrual cycles. The idea emerged from a 1970s report observing college dorm residents and suggested cycle convergence, later called the McClintock Effect. Some studies in the 1990s appeared to support the phenomenon and proposed olfactory cues or pheromones as possible mechanisms. More recent, rigorously designed research has generally failed to detect synchrony among women living together. Research has also not identified a plausible biological mechanism to trigger cycle syncing. The belief persists partly because the idea of physiological alignment feels comforting and connecting.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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