BMJ  2007;334:955 (5 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39199.597512.59

Views & reviews

Personal views

Is menstruation obsolete?

Baltimore, MD

Menstrual suppression has been recommended for medical conditions such as endometriosis, but it is also being proposed as a lifestyle choice for women who dislike menstruation or find it inconvenient. Articles in the professional and popular press have asserted that menstrual suppression is a reasonable lifestyle choice. Birth control options that reduce or eliminate periods are being developed. The oral contraceptive Seasonale, for example, combines 84 days of active pills (0.03 mg ethinyl oestradiol and 0.15 mg levonorgestrel) with seven days of placebo. Since menstrual flow occurs during the pill-free interval, a hormone-free interval every three months instead of the usual 21 days reduces the number of pill-induced periods from 13 to four annually. Seasonale's website (www.seasonale.com) states: "Fewer periods. More possibilities . . . you might want to consider asking about Seasonale if you . . . wish you had more time between periods, and less of . . . [Full text of this article]

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Rapid Responses:

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Illogical and Unscientific?

Sheldon J. Segal, et al.
bmj.com, 12 May 2007 [Full text]

Author's reply

Paula S. Derry
bmj.com, 16 May 2007 [Full text]

Pregnancy as natural suppression

Laura J Brindle
bmj.com, 16 May 2007 [Full text]

What are the possibilities?

Wendy L Martin
bmj.com, 18 May 2007 [Full text]

Nature Versus Culture Debate Goes On

Christine L Nuttall
bmj.com, 18 May 2007 [Full text]

To bleed or not to bleed.

Laura Wershler, et al.
bmj.com, 18 May 2007 [Full text]

Who will decide?

Gail P Grant
bmj.com, 22 May 2007 [Full text]

Re: Who will decide?

Sarah P Lang
bmj.com, 25 May 2007 [Full text]

Try to avoid the word "natural"

D Summers
bmj.com, 26 May 2007 [Full text]

Much further than natural.

A Minett
bmj.com, 7 Jun 2007 [Full text]

Re: Nature Versus Culture Debate Goes On

José C. Pereira
bmj.com, 9 Aug 2007 [Full text]