Does hypoxia impair ovarian function in Bolivian women indigenous to high altitude?
Fertility appears to be reduced in at least some high altitude populations relative to their counterparts at lower elevations. Inferring from the difficulties with reproduction of newcomers to high altitude and from animal experiments, it has been hypothesized that this apparent reduction is the result of hypoxia acting to reduce fecundity and/or increase fetal loss. In humans, however, several behavioral as well as biological factors may affect fertility levels. These many factors have been organized by demographers into a framework of seven proximate determinants that includes fecundability (the monthly probability of conception) of which successful ovulation is one component. To test whether ovarian function is impaired in women indigenous to high altitude, we measured salivary progesterone (P) in a sample (n = 20) of Quechua women (aged 19-42 years) residing at 3,100 m. It was found that mean luteal P = 179 pmol/L and mean midluteal P = 243 pmol/L, levels that fall about midway in
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