Fine del ciclo?

Negli Stati Uniti un numero crescente di donne impiega la pillola o altri contraccettivi a base di progestinici per sopprimere il ciclo mestruale: ne parla Linda A. Johnson in un articolo per la Associated Press («Pills Rendering Menstrual Period Optional», 21 maggio 2006).

“If you’re choosing contraception, then there’s not a lot of point to having periods,” says Dr. Leslie Miller, a University of Washington-Seattle researcher and associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology whose Web site, noperiod.com, explains the option. She points out women on hormonal contraception don’t have real periods anyway, just withdrawal bleeding during the break from the hormone progestin.

Un aspetto interessante è costituito dal fatto che la condizione ‘naturale’ che in questo modo viene soppressa non è poi così naturale:

According to Miller, modern women endure up to nine times more periods than their great-grandmothers, who began menstruating later, married young and naturally suppressed periods for years while they were pregnant or breast-feeding. Today’s women may have about 450 periods.

Come al solito, la cautela è comunque d’obbligo:

caution is needed because there’s not enough data on long-term consequences of using hormones continuously … menopausal women for years were told that hormone drugs would keep them young – until research uncovered unexpected risks.