23 August 2019 - 18:25
In the News 23.08.19
Tianna Bartoletta interview: How heavy periods caused Olympic long jump champion’s shock collapse
- At the start of August, Olympic champion Bartoletta was sat in a Colorado hospital receiving the results from a whirlwind of scans and tests, having just unexpectedly passed out
- Over the past few months her menstrual cycle had increased from five moderate days to 14 heavy days
- It turns out an underactive thyroid was causing her to have far longer, heavier periods, which was in turn impacting the amount of blood in her body.
- “The doctor told me I didn’t just have low iron, I essentially had no iron,” she says. “He wasn’t sure how I was functioning.”
- Full article in The Telegraph; Anaemia and Heavy Periods
- Whilst the cause of her heavy periods wasn’t a menstrual problem, the article is an important reminder that heavy periods could be the sign of an underlying medical issue and that they’re not to be ignored
Gen Zers are more open when it comes to talking about periods compared to other generations – research conducted by Lunette
- A poll of 2,000 young women, aged 18-38, uncovered that despite 65 percent saying menstruation shame exists today in society, a whopping 62 percent feel periods are a natural process and their personal perspective on periods is shifting the cultural norms
- Nearly half (43 percent) of Gen Zers have no issue talking about menstruation with anyone, no matter what their gender compared to just 35 percent of millennials who feel the same way
- 86 percent revealed they do not consider menstruation to be a “taboo” topic any longer
- It’s great that we’re seeing a shift in attitude regarding menstrual health; if we’re comfortable discussing periods then it will be easier to understand what’s normal and when to see a GP