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Article: Menstrual suppression.(Shorts)
- Article from:
- Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
- Article date:
- November 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 The Townsend Letter Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Not surprisingly, women without access to birth control have far fewer menstrual periods during their lifetime than those with access. (Multiple pregnancies and breast feeding prevent ovulation and menstruation.) Some believe that the high number of periods may be unnatural, even harmful. Scientist Beverly Strassmann observed the reproductive profile of the Dogon tribe of Mali in the 1980s for two and a half years. She found that Dogon women average about a hundred periods in their lifetime. Western women with access to birth control menstruate between 350 and 400 times. Some researchers, like Drs. Elsimar Coutinho and Sheldon S Segal, believe that this 'incessant ...