| Description |
Natural family planning methods utilized a number of signs and symptoms to determine ovulation. The calendar method of recording dates, basal body temperature, cervical mucus change, spinbarkeit, mittelscherz, spotting, breast tenderness position and consistency of the cervix, mood and libido changes are all used as indicators of fertility. On the cervical mucus changes evaluated, a characteristic called ferning has been studied extensively. Cervical mucus changes have been found to be under the control of the cyclic release of the hormones estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen indirectly stimulates ferning and progesterone prevents ferning by affecting the NaCL content of the mucus secreted by the columnar epithelial cells of the cervix. It has been found that estrogen and progesterone affect all columnar epithelial cells of the body. Therefore, mucus secreted by other columnar epithelial cells could also be evaluated for their cyclic ferning properties as well. The purpose of this study was to describe the cyclic ferning patters in the nasal mucus of women with regular menstrual cycles. The specific research questions addressed included: a) how does the stage of ferning in nasal mucus change with changes in basal body temperature; and b) how does the stage of ferning in nasal mucus change throughout the menstrual cycle? Data were collected through the use of a medical history questionnaire, basal body temperature chart, and nasal mucus samples collected daily. The data obtained were interval, but due to the small sample size of 25 women, frequency polygons were the only statistical measure used. Statistically, there were no significant relationships between nasal mucus ferning and basal body temperature. Clinically it was significant that as the temperature increased, the stage of ferning also increased. There was also no statistically significant relationship between nasal mucus ferning and the day of the menstrual cycle. In clinical observations, it was found that nasal mucus ferning patterns more closely resembled the effects of progesterone and estrogen. |
