The study was conducted by researchers at the Kinsey Institute for Research in Sex, Gender and Reproduction and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, according to the University.
The two clinicians involved in the study examined the possible therapeutic benefits of “grandmothering,” while the bioanthropologist involved focused on possible evolutionary reasons behind the ?connection.
The study concluded that midlife women going through rapid menopause, which is caused by the surgical removal of ovaries, had minimized menopause symptoms, particularly fewer hot flashes and night sweats, when they had young children living in ?their home.
The researchers include Tierney Lorenz, postdoctoral fellow at the Kinsey Institute at IU-Bloomington; Bonnie McGregor, researcher at University of Washington’s Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and Virginia J. Vitzthum, professor of anthropology and senior research scientist at the Kinsey Institute, according to the University.
“Menopause: the Journal of the North American Menopause Society” published the study.
There were 117 participants involved in the study.
Sixty-nine of these participants were menopausal or postmenopausal at their time of surgery, 29 of which had a child at home.
Forty-eight women were pre-menopausal, 28 of them with a child at home.
Hot flashes and night sweats were monitored just before the surgery, and again at two, six and 12 months ?post-surgery.
Menopause occurs when the ovaries stop producing eggs and menstruation ?ceases.
Some women experience symptoms that are merely bothersome, but some experience symptoms that are near-crippling, Lorenz said in a University press release.
Lorenz said this is one of the first studies on menopause symptoms that examines the effects of social ?relationships.
He also said the results of the study cannot be assumed true for all women since the process of menopause varies so greatly.
The hormone oxytocin may have influenced the results. Oxytocin is associated with nurturing and caretaking and is involved in regulating body temperature.
The effects were limited to children younger than 13.
Anna Hyzy
