Blood
The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author, internationally known ob/gyn, and internet superstar who has become the go-to expert for women’s health issues now takes on a topic that affects more than 72 million Americans every month, bashing myths about menstruation and giving readers the knowledge they need to make the best decisions for their bodies.
Most women can expect to have hundreds of periods in a lifetime. So why is real information so hard to find? Despite its significance, most education about menstruation focuses either on increasing the chances of pregnancy or preventing it. And while both are crucial, women deserve to know more about their bodies than just what happens in service to reproduction. At a time when charlatans, politicians, and even some doctors are succeeding in propagating damaging misinformation and disempowering women, Dr. Jen provides the antidote with science, myth busting, and no-nonsense facts.
Not knowing how your body works makes it challenging to advocate for yourself. Consequently, many suffer in silence thinking their bodies are uniquely broken, or they turn to disreputable sources. Blood is a practical, empowering guide to what’s typical, what’s concerning, and when to seek care—recounted with expertise and frank, fearless wit that have made Dr. Jen today’s most trusted voice in women’s health.
Dr. Jen answers all your period-related questions, including: What exactly happens during menstruation? How heavy is too heavy? How much should periods hurt? and provides essential information about topics such as:
* The impact of stress and health on the menstrual cycle
* Menstrual migraines, PMS, and period diarrhea (yes, it’s totally normal)
* Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and fibroids
* Endometriosis and the latest treatments
* The endometrium's (the uterine lining’s) fascinating connection to the immune system
* Different cultural perceptions of menstruation, and how they affect girls and women
* Legitimate menstrual products, and the facts behind toxic shock syndrome
Blood is about much more than biology. It’s an all-in-one, revolutionary guide that will change the way we think about, talk about—and don’t talk about—our bodies and our well-being.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Gynecologist Gunter (The Menopause Manifesto) delivers a superb overview of "the menstrual cycle and the medical conditions and therapies associated with" it. Delving into the science of periods, Gunter explains that "seven to 10 days after ovulation," endometrium in the uterus fills "with storage sugars and lipids" to provide nourishment for potential embryos; if conception doesn't occur, the endometrium is expelled and the process restarts. Patriarchal perspectives, Gunter contends, have dominated women's healthcare for centuries (ancient Greek men viewed menstruation as "proof that women have troublesome physiology"), and women continue to be underserved by the medical research community, as evidenced by the fact that government-funded medical studies weren't required to include women until 1993 and that the U.S. only spends about $2 per patient on endometriosis research per year, compared to on diabetes, "which affects the same number of people." Gunter is a sharp critic of the ways in which menstrual complications have been dismissed by the medical establishment (she notes that despite painful periods affecting a majority of women, they are often dismissed as "exaggerated and a sign of weakness" while "billions of dollars of funding" are showered on erectile dysfunction), and her talent for explicating the biology of periods will engage even the scientifically uninclined. Filled with piercing social analysis and enlightening science, this one's a winner.
