A few statistics on menstrual health

1. 1 in 10 women in America are affected by endometriosis.
2. It takes an average of 7 years to obtain a diagnosis for endometriosis, this means the number above may be far higher in reality.
3. 30 to 50 percent of people with the disorder will experience infertility.
4. Worldwide, PCOS affects 6% to 10% of women, making it the most common endocrine disorder in women of childbearing age.
5. By age 40, 40% of women with PCOS will develop pre-diabetes or diabetes.
6. Women with PCOS are at a higher risk of developing obstructive sleep apnea due to the influence of androgens affecting sleep receptors in the brain.
7. Women with PCOS have higher rates of anxiety and depression than women without the syndrome.
8. Know your numbers: women with PCOS have a 70% prevalence of elevated triglycerides and low HDL (“good” cholesterol). Changes to diet and lifestyle can improve levels.
9.  It is estimated that 50-70% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance. Vitamin D, acts as a hormone and has shown to have a huge impact on insulin resistance.
10. A 2012 study found 32 to 40 percent of people who have periods report this pain is so severe they have to miss work or school.
11. By age 50, 70 percent of Caucasian women and 80 percent of African-American women will develop one or more fibroids.
12. More than 10 million American people who menstruate have menorrhagia, the loose an excessive amount of blood during menstruation.
13. 5% of people who menstruate experience PMDD.
14. A large number of these women have a history of trauma.
15. Each year in the United States, people spend upward of $2 billion on menstrual products. In their lifetime, the average menstruating person uses almost 17,000 tampons or pads.
16. This is both a personal cost to the individual and an environmental cost to the planet. Many of these products don’t easily degrade in landfills.
17. Stigma around periods has existed for millennia.
18. In 1920, Dr. Béla Schick coined the phrase “menotoxin” for a theory he had that women produce toxins during menstruation. Schick reached this conclusion after a nurse who was menstruating handled a bouquet of flowers. Schick observed that those specific flowers wilted sooner than flowers the nurse didn’t touch. He decided her period was the cause. In the 1950s, researchers injected menstrual blood in animals to test the toxic theory. The blood did, in fact, kill the animals. But it was proven years later that the death was a result of bacterial contamination in the blood, not a toxic effect.
19. By 1974, researchers had identified that menstruation taboos may be closely tied to how men participate in procreative activities. In other words, the less men are involved with childbirth and childrearing, the more distasteful a period is to them. Another reason to ensure we have an open conversation around bodies and health.
20. In Britain, a 2017 survey from Plan International reports 1 in 7 girls say they’ve struggled to afford menstrual protection. More than 1 in 10 girls have had to improvise menstrual wear because they couldn’t afford proper products. Though the United Kingdom was set to drop taxes on tampons and other menstrual products, Brexit talks had stalled the final removal of the levy. A Parliament vote in October 2018 moved the United Kingdom a step closer to eliminating the tampon tax.
21. In Nepal, a 21-year-old woman died from smoke inhalation after she lit a fire to keep warm during “chhaupadi.”In this Nepalese practice, menstruating Hindu girls and women are forced from their home to sleep outside in huts or cattle sheds until their period ends. Temperatures can fall into the single digits or lower in winter, but the huts may not be heated or insulated enough to provide adequate warmth. In parts of India, some women are forced to isolate themselves in much the same way.
22. In some places in Africa, the onset of menstruation is viewed as a passage from one phase of life to the next. It’s a vaulted and valued experience. Specific huts or homes are set aside for women to stay in when they have their first period. They’re joined by their female family members and other women during this time.
23. In 2018, the United Nations (UN) reported that the shame, stigma, and misinformation that surround periods can lead to serious health and human rights concerns. That’s why they declared menstrual hygiene an issue that affects public health, gender equality, and human rights.
24. Globally, 2.3 billion people lack basic sanitation services and in Least Developed Countries only 27 per cent of the population has a handwashing facility with water and soap at home. Managing periods at home is a major challenge for women and adolescent girls who lack these basic facilities at home.[v]
25. About half of the schools in low-income countries lack adequate[vi] drinking water, sanitation and hygiene crucial for girls and female teachers to manage their period. Inadequate facilities can affect girls’ experience at school, causing them to miss school during their period.