March 24th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
Tags: Communication, Dysmenorrhea, Language, Menstruation, pain
Posted in Dysmenorrhea, Language, Menstruation, New Research, Newspapers, Pharmaceutical | 2 Comments »
March 11th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
Tags: endometriosis, FemCare, Menarche, Menstruation, pain
Posted in Dysmenorrhea, FemCare, Menarche, Menstruation, New Research, anatomy | Comments Off
February 25th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
Tags: Men, Menstruation, pain, women
Posted in Men, Menstruation, New Research | Comments Off
January 20th, 2010 by Elizabeth Kissling
A new meta-analysis of previous research on acetaminophen (also known as paracetamol outside the U.S.) vs. NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) for treatment of menstrual pain indicates that NSAIDs are more effective. NSAIDs include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen sodium, which are all readily available over-the-counter in the U.S. The research pooled results from 73 randomized controlled trials comparing the effectiveness and safety of NSAIDs vs. placebo, vs. acetaminophen, and each other.
The results don’t indicate whether one NSAID is any better than any other for menstrual pain. Researcher Jane Marjoribanks, M.D., Cochrane Menstrual Disorders and Subfertility Group in Auckland, New Zealand, says they work by reducing prostaglandins, the substance manufactured by the uterine lining to help the uterus contract and expel menstrual fluid.
“Research has shown that women with dysmenorrhoea have high levels of prostaglandins, hormones known to cause cramping abdominal pain. …NSAIDs are drugs which act by blocking prostaglandin production.”
The study was published today in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.

Tags: cramps, drugs, Menstruation, pain
Posted in Dysmenorrhea, Menstruation, New Research, Pharmaceutical | 3 Comments »
December 24th, 2009 by Chris Hitchcock
A recent press release from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists announces that Hormonal Contraceptives Offer Benefits Beyond Pregnancy Prevention. This is in the same vein as similar articles published over the years about “non-contraceptive benefits of the pill” – a laundry list of the many benefits women may obtain by using hormonal contraception. It’s not clear how they should be used by practicing obgyn’s. One use is certainly as additional talking points to convince women who are cautious or reluctant to replace their body’s own menstrual physiology with a pharmaceutical product.
I haven’t been able to read the full document (for some reason my university access seems to only find the first page of the full document), but it appears that, like previous reviews I have read, it is a biased list, including benefits but not risks. Perhaps what is most in common is the sense that a spontaneous menstrual cycle is somehow suspect, that fluctuations over time are unnatural, and that pharmaceutical control is a good solution. Continue reading...
Tags: ACOG, adolescents, birth control pill, Dysmenorrhea, heavy bleeding, menstrual cramps, Menstruation, NSAIDs, off-label use, oral contraceptives, pain, PMS
Posted in Birth Control, Dysmenorrhea, Health Care, Menorrhagia, Menstruation, PMS, Pharmaceutical | 2 Comments »
December 3rd, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
A couple of months ago, we wrote about Kate Seear’s research findings that menstrual etiquette is a frequent cause of delayed diagnosis of endometriosis. In related news, medical researchers writing in a recent issue of the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology have found that adenomyosis, the presence of endometrial tissue embedded within the muscular wall of the uterus, is under-diagnosed.
S. Basak and A. Saha, the study’s authors, examined the data of more than 1000 hysterectomies performed for pelvic pain or abnormal uterine bleeding (in other words, hysterectomies for cancer and uterine prolapse were excluded from the data set) in the UK in a three-year period. In 26 of those cases, adenomyosis was identified post-surgery via tissue analysis.
The medical histories in these 26 cases were then examined more closely. The majority of the women had sought medical attention for menorraghia (excessive menstrual bleeding) and dysmenorrhea (painful periods). Eleven of the women’s uteruses were enlarged, and 16 underwent pelvic ultrasound exams. But adenomyosis was suspected clinically in only one case; the others were identified as uterine fibroids (five cases) or “dysfunctional uterine bleeding” (20 cases).
Examination of patients’ case histories found that the medical consultations focused on menstrual flow. The researchers found that other symptoms of adenomyosis, such as pelvic pain, pain during intercourse, painful periods, and feelings of pelvic pressure, were not adequately addressed – even when examination or ultrasound findings indicated an enlarged uterus.
Basak and Saha ask,
Does failure of preoperative suspicion of adenomyosis matter? In the absence of an accurate diagnosis, appropriate treatment is unlikely to be offered, or may be delayed. This results in failure of treatment and continued suffering.
To identify adenomyosis earlier, they recommend more careful discussion with patients of pelvic symptoms, MRI, and follow-up care with women who elect for conservative management of their symptoms. Once again, open communication about all aspects of menstruation isn’t about challenging taboos just for the sake of challenge; it’s critical for women’s health and well-being.

Tags: adenomyosis, health, Health Care, pain
Posted in Communication, Dysmenorrhea, Health Care, Menorrhagia, Menstruation, New Research | Comments Off
November 19th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
I think few people would consider menstruation per se a disability, with exceptions for menorrhagia and unusually painful periods. But I’ve been reading a bit in the field of disability studies lately, for both professional and personal interest, and starting to think about disability differently. I’m currently reading Susan Wendell’s The Rejected Body and finding it especially powerful and provocative.*
She writes of disability as social construction; that is, disability cannot be defined solely in biomedical terms but must be considered in terms of a person’s social, physical, and cultural environment. A person is disabled when they live in a society that is “physically constructed and socially organized with the unacknowledged assumption that everyone is healthy, non-disabled, young but adult, shaped according to cultural ideals, and, often, male” (p. 39).
A feminist philosopher by training, Wendell points out that feminists have long sustained criticisms that the world has been designed for the convenience of men and male bodies. Continue reading...
Tags: disability, pain
Posted in Menstruation, Philosophy, books | 4 Comments »
October 9th, 2009 by Elizabeth Kissling
It’s great that menstrual taboo and stigma is ‘over’, as Amanda Fortini informed us earlier this week (see Chris’ post about the menstrual activism shitstorm across several blogs this week). Now maybe all those women suffering from debilitating endometriosis can get some relief.
Kate Seear’s newly published study about the diagnostic delay in treating endometriosis finds that menstrual etiquette rules and the culture of concealment are among the most profound causes of the delay between the first experience of menstrual pain and the diagnosis of endometriosis, which then opens avenues for relief through either surgery or medical treatment. The delay is non-trivial: research estimates an average delay of 8 years in the UK and 11 years in the US. Reasons for the delay include minimizing of menstrual pain by doctors, family members, and others, and women’s inability to distinguish between ‘normal’ menstrual pain and abnormal pain, and, Seear argues, the social sanctioning women experience when they talk about menstruation in general or menstrual pain in particular.
Copyright restrictions prevent me from re-publishing the article that details her findings and analysis, but here is the abstract: Continue reading...
Tags: endometriosis, menstrual etiquette, pain
Posted in Communication, Menstruation, New Research | 4 Comments »
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