London newspaper The Telegraph reports on the development of a new medical treatment for dysmenorrhea, or painful periods. The article contains very little information about the new pill — most of the article describes the variety of misery some women experience with menstruation. The only information about the new medication is that the drug blocks vasopressin, a hormone involved in regulating uterine contractions and thus a cause of menstrual cramping.
But I was struck by this sentence in the second paragraph:
But now [women with painful periods] might no longer have to soldier on stoically after researchers have developed a pill which could put an end to the root cause of their discomfort.
See that? Women with cramps aren’t whiners or crybabies or just making excuses. They’re hard-working troupers who soldier on stoically despite being miserable.
I’m calling loony-stiff-upper-lip-British-Torygraph-writers on that one, with my wife’s approval.
I searched for VA111913 in https://clinicaltrials.gov, and found two studies, a completed Phase I trial and a Phase II trial that is currently recruiting in the UK. Here’s Wikipedia’s take on the phases of a clinical trial and what they entail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clinical_trial#Phases. Which is to say that this is an article that will help the researchers to recruit Phase II participants, but this product is still quite a long way from market.
I do appreciate your comment about how menstrual cramps are now being recognized as real and physical, rather than dismissed as the unfulfilled sublimation of uppity women who reject their feminine roles (yes, I am not making this up).