1.   Recently, researchers have looked at how the immune system is affected during and after pregnancy, a period marked by drastic hormonal swings.

2.   Several experts believe that some women are unduly sensitive to postpartum hormonal swings.

3.   Still, hormonal swings do not completely explain autoimmune disorders and may even cloud the picture.

4.   Slaney argued that the test did not take into account the hormonal swings a woman goes through during menstruation while on birth control and nearing menopause.