When writing Blood: The science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation, Dr. Jen Gunter wanted to address a pair of common issues that women face when attempting to access health care.

She wanted to explore either the dismissal of women’s health concerns by health care professionals, or the over testing of hormones on the other end of the spectrum.

The problem, she said, was the difficulty for women who have been exposed repeatedly to messages about what good health care allegedly looks like, to know when they are receiving appropriate care.

“For example, with hormone testing, there are very valid reasons to test and there are invalid reasons to test. The problem is that it’s very hard for people to know the difference. Many people have heard stories of women being dismissed, so if they read on social media that they should have their hormones checked, and then they don’t get them checked, they’re going to get upset and think they’ve had bad care, when they may actually had good care,” Dr. Gunter said.

“If you’re 28 years old, and your only symptom is fatigue, you do not need to have your reproductive hormones checked, that would be bad care. But on the other hand, there are 28-year-old women who haven’t had a period for four months and they absolutely need to have their reproductive hormones checked.”

Some of the many the topics that Blood addresses are the endometrium’s (uterus) connection to the immune system;, the brain-ovary connection; legitimate menstrual products, and the facts behind toxic shock syndrome; irregular, heavy, and breakthrough bleeding; period pain; hormonal contraception, menstrual tracking, and fertility awareness methods.

Misinformation disempowers women from being healthy

At issue, said Dr. Gunter, is that so much of the science and medical information that would otherwise empower women to make evidence based health choices regarding their bodies, especially in relation to menstruation, isn’t taught.

“The problem is getting people the information, so they know when it matters to them and when they’re getting bad advice,” she said.

“You can’t be empowered about your health with inaccurate information. If nobody’s learning about this in high school, if nobody’s learning how their body really works… anything to do with their reproductive tract—and, in fact, in some places people can opt out of the little that is taught—we’re really setting people up for disastrous health courses without having this knowledge.”

The answer, she said, is that people deserve to know how their bodies work.

Calgarians will have an opportunity to have a more fulsome opportunity to get evidence based, science backed knowledge, when Dr. Gunter visits Calgary on Feb. 21 at the Bella Concert Hall for a discussion with Calgary-based health journalist Christina Frangou.

The talk is being hosted as part of Calgary’s celebration of all things written and literary, Wordfest.

Dr. Gunter hopes the conversation can break down some of the stigma around menstruation and around women’s health issues, and that attendees will leave feeling more comfortable talking about those often socially taboo topics.

“Many women have a hard time talking about menstruation with their friends, or even mentioning to their doctors. They often use words like down there or my monthly, or they just don’t even use the words. I think it’s revolutionary to see a book in the bookstore with blood spatters on it with the word blood that is clearly about menstruation.”

“After reading the book, they’re like, ‘hey, I can say this word, it’s just a word.’ I want that to be the same for talking about menstruation and cramps and bleeding. I don’t want people to have any shame talking about their body.”

Talk to give space for women to end taboo around discussing menstruation

She said that a benefit of attending the talk would be to put some of the discussions about what normal means—women being told that they should menstruate every 29 days, when in reality that it’s entirely normal and healthy to not be on that schedule—into a group conversation.

“I think to be in a room with 200 people that aren’t going to laugh at you, that are going to see you and appreciate what you’re going through, and be OK with you saying any word that you want to say, I think that’s empowering,” she said.

Dr. Gunter said that the messages in her talk and her book were in many ways, also important for men.

“I think every single man should read this book because first of all, every person has benefited from the menstrual cycle. They wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t had a menstrual cycle. They wouldn’t be here if someone hadn’t suffered with all of the ramifications of the menstrual cycle,” Dr. Gunter said.

“If you are a man, you might have a daughter, a lover, a sister, a friend who menstruates, and wouldn’t it help you to be a better friend, partner, parent to know more about what’s happening to their bodies that you can help them—so you know more about the people you care about?”

For more information on Dr. Gunter’s conversation at Wordfest, see wordfest.com/2023/event/wordfest-presents-dr-jen-gunter.

Blood: The science, medicine, and mythology of menstruation is available now at most booksellers, and through Penguin Random House at www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/651938/blood-by-dr-jen-gunter/9780735280830.