Why full term pregnancies are not possible

Brilliant post, i'm really glad you felt you could post that here

Im no expert, but I do moderate on a UK pregnancy/TTC forum that deals with fertility issues, so I know enough to say I completely buy your theory. It makes sense!

Nice first posting.

Could it be that the reason people are returned to health is that the island has some kind of effect on the body which boosts every ones' immune system.

This immune system increase would make it possible, for example, for Rose's body to wipe out her cancer naturally.

Unfortunately, this boost might be something like what organ transplant patients experience with their immune system then turning on the new organ and destroying it. This being the reason that the patients need immuno-suppressing meds.

Perhaps the immune system boost causes the body to turn on the fetus or "non-you" as you put it, and destroy it as well becasue of it's heightened function.

Good for you on tackling a difficult subject, and doing so admirably.

I don't know if you're right or wrong - but we should remember that the mother also dies. The reason Sun had to leave the Island was not just because her baby was going to die, but also because she would certainly die, too.

So whilst the host's immune system turns on the foetus, this process in turn kills the host.

Juliet: " Sun... In about three weeks, you'll be in an almost constant state of nausea. A week after that, you will experience shortness of breath that won't go away. A week after that, you will lose consciousness and slip into a coma. And then, Sun, you will die."

Any ideas on how to embrace this physical death of the host with your theory above?

Ok first of all, how do you always seem to get the most random infomation anywhere. You truly are a dedicated lostie (.justmommies.com)

Secondly great post, I agree that the reason that the babies die is when they 'become themselves' for lack of a better word.

AngeloComet wrote:

Juliet: " Sun... In about three weeks, you'll be in an almost constant state of nausea. A week after that, you will experience shortness of breath that won't go away. A week after that, you will lose consciousness and slip into a coma. And then, Sun, you will die."

Any ideas on how to embrace this physical death of the host with your theory above?

Just a guess, perhaps someone more in the know can clairfy, but wouldnt that be the symptoms of the immune system attacking your own body?

Im sure that vital organs gradually shutting down would be a repsonse to that.

I`m not a doctor but i work with one and he seems to think the hosts immune system could effect the baby aswell as the pregnent women. nice therory.

I really like your thinking and ideas for this. It's definitely a possibility!!!

does anyone know if the baby and momma die about the same time? I think this would make a difference in the argument

If the baby dies first, it could cause the mom to become septic - forcing her into shock (loss of breathing, consciousness and falling into a coma).

yes i think that this is correct +1

I agree with your theory !

I read on wikipedia that if the baby is dead before 20 weeks, it is called a miscarriage. There will be light bleeding, like a period, for 7-10 days. It changes from case to case, but 65-80 % of women don't need to undergo medical/surgical treatment. They recover naturally. But some of them have heavy bleeding, pain and fever and need special treatment. They don't usually die of hemorrhage, but of a possible infection that wasn't caught in time, caused by not being able to pass all of the products of conception(clots, fluids, etc).

It seems like women on the island belong to the minority who can't recover naturally and have infections. It's weird that the Others didn't help these women to get a treatment once they knew that the babies were dead. Unless of course, the island infected them with something incurable.

I think there is something to this 'Immune Boost' idea.

I have done some immunolgy and it's not just the foetus which is potentially treated as a foreign invader, but also the paternal antigens in the sperm. It has also been shown that regular exposure to a partner's semen helps the female immune system moderate the immunological response.

Einarsson, Jon I. MD; Sangi-Haghpeykar, Haleh PhD; Gardner, Michael O. MD, MPH (2003). "Sperm exposure and development of preeclampsia". Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 188 (5): 1241-1243.

And if I remember correctly, the sperms on this island are actually at several times the levels they would normally be at.
This could also mean that there are many times the level of antigens.
(Bear in mind there are 93 identified immune-regulating factors in semen, so they are packed with the hardware to play havoc with the immune system already).
So we are talking super-sperms with super immune-regulating-powers which boost the female immunological response, in a pathological way. I think this has something to do with it, but as far as the third trimester goes, I am so far stumped.

Finally, and I could not resist this, I also found a cheeky but serious scientific journal which more or less says "Ladies! Swallow your Man's Semen! " because it will help your immunological response and reduce risk of miscarriage!!"

Koelman CA, Coumans AB, Nijman HW, Doxiadis II, Dekker GA, Claas FH (2000). "Correlation between oral sex and a low incidence of preeclampsia: a role for soluble HLA in seminal fluid?". J. Reprod. Immunol. 46 (2): 155–66. PMID 10706945

I say...Hear Hear to that!!