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‘The world’s most famous and outspoken gynaecologist‘ (The Guardian) fights myths and fearmongering with real science, inclusive facts, and shame-free advice on the topic that impacts more than 1.8 billion people worldwide: menstruation.
Women can expect to have between 350 and 450 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.
Not knowing how your body works makes it challenging to advocate for yourself. Consequently, many people 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 the no-nonsense 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
* Menstruation and the trans and non-binary experience
* Legitimate menstrual products and the facts behind toxic shock syndrome
* The risks and benefits of hysterectomies
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.
Women can expect to have between 350 and 450 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.
Not knowing how your body works makes it challenging to advocate for yourself. Consequently, many people 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 the no-nonsense 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
* Menstruation and the trans and non-binary experience
* Legitimate menstrual products and the facts behind toxic shock syndrome
* The risks and benefits of hysterectomies
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.
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Reviews
Gunter is on a mission to counter any force that threatens women's bodily autonomy, whether that's as old as patriarchy or as new as online disinformation...This book will be a valuable weapon for anyone who fights those battles.
Gynaecologist Gunter delivers a superb overview of "the menstrual cycle and the medical conditions and therapies with" it. ...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.
The book's ability to make science sing and stick is impressive, but an even greater achievement of Blood is to expose the playbook of medical misinformation...a compelling example of how science communicated with clarity, relatability and wit can satisfy our needs of belonging and care, which have been mastered and sometimes manipulated by the wellness industry.
Funny, erudite, compassionate and righteous - sometimes all in a single sentence - Jen Gunter is the period expert we need right now.
This book is the brilliant and long needed corrective that we have waited for, since the first time we stuffed a box of pads into a three-ply paper bag and slunk out of a pharmacy. Never again.