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healingways
No Periods
Pros and Cons of
Menstrual Suppression
by Lisa Marshall
S
ome see it as a curse that dashes
vacation plans, stains sheets and
wreaks havoc on emotions. Others view
it as an integral part of womanhood, a
welcome sign that we are healthy—and
not pregnant. But, in
an age with a pill for just about every-
thing, more women are looking at their
menstrual cycle as something
else entirely: optional.
“Fifty years ago, with the advent of
The Pill, suppressing ovulation became
an option for women who did not want
to get pregnant. Skipping your period
[altogether] is also an option, and I
think a lot more women are going to
do it,” says Leslie Miller, a Seattle ob-
stetrician and gynecologist and founder
of the website NoPeriod.com, which
coaches people on how to become
“Encouraging healthy young girls and women to do
period-free, via various forms of
contraception.
away with their periods for the sake of convenience,
Drug companies have made it
easier than ever. In July 2007, Wyeth
without educating them about the health benefits
Pharmaceuticals rolled out Lybrel, the
first oral contraceptive designed to not
of a normal menstrual cycle, as well as the risks of
only prevent pregnancy but also elimi-
menstrual suppression, is irresponsible and unethical.”
nate periods for a year or more. Before
that, came the popular Seasonale and
— Susan Rako, M.D.
Seasonique, “extended cycle” birth
control pills, to reduce menses to four a slew of websites, industry-sponsored
times a year. Yaz, a top-seller in this blogs, how-to books and TV advertise-
country, reduces periods to three days ments, promising liberation from that
or fewer; it is also said to address messy time of month. “Fewer periods.
severe acne and premenstrual dysphor- More possibilities,” cheers one Season-
ic disorder (PMDD). Then there is ale ad.
Depo Provera, a quarterly injection, But, amidst the celebratory media
and the Merina intrauterine device blitz has come outrage: from physi-
(IUD); both can, in some cases, halt cians, who fear we may be putting
periods completely. women in danger; government regula-
Unlike conventional birth-control tors, who say the ads go too far; and
pills, many such products are marketed feminists, who wonder what message
to all women, not just the sexually ac- we are sending our daughters.
tive aiming to prevent pregnancy, via “It’s a horrifying prospect,” states
24 Broward County
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