Is pre-eclampsia a disease of the sexually active gravida?

Observation of families present in Labor Rooms has suggested that pre-eclamptic parturients are usually accompanied by a male companion while young parturients without pre-eclampsia are attended by a female family member. Consequently, 72 unselected teenage parturients were questioned about their sexual activity during pregnancy. Pre-eclampsia was diagnosed in 22; all had sexual activity after conception, 19 during the entire course of pregnancy and three during the first trimester only. Thirteen parturients who denied sexual activity during pregnancy did not develop pre-eclampsia. The remaining 37 parturients were sexually active but pre-eclampsia did not occur. The etiology of pre-eclampsia is enigmatic. The concept of a sexually-related origin provides possible explanations for the lack of the disease in animals as well as for certain facts about the disease in humans.