Doctors Have Finally Ruled Menstrual Cramps As Painful As Heart Attacks

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Although we know that menstrual cramps/period pain/whatever you choose to call it, can feel like you're being repeatedly punched in the stomach from the inside out, explaining this to other people (read: generally men) can feel like a lost cause.

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Worried about being dismissively diagnosed by coworkers and friends with female "conditions" such as being "delicate," "dramatic," or "oversharing," more often than not, we suck it up and suffer in silence. Add it to the list...

But not anymore. Menstrual cramps, or Dysmenorrhea as it's technically called, has finally been ruled as painful as having a heart attack. Professor of reproductive health at University College London, John Guillebaud, told Quartz that patients have described the cramping pain as "almost as bad as having a heart attack."

Although we're not overjoyed that a dude finally acknowledged period pain can be a condition so debilitating its only comparison is a near death experience, we'll take the improvement on the previous medical advice that recommended Ibuprofen as "good enough" to prescribe.

In fact, ignoring women's pain has been a concerning medical practise for, well, forever, with research showing that doctors generally take it less seriously then men's. Hell, the word hysterical stems from hystericus meaning "of the womb."

Thanks for that one society.

Here's to a more open conversation around menstruation and a society that acknowledges the power of the period instead of ignoring it.

John, you've made our good list.

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George Driver is the Acting Beauty Director at ELLE UK covering everything from the latest make-up look taking fashion week by storm, to curating edits of the best moisturisers for dry skin (that actually work) and the psychological impact your skin can have. Having started her career in fashion features at InStyle and LOOK, she swiftly moved into the world of beauty and now oversees the section across print and digital.

Doctors Have Finally Ruled Menstrual Cramps Are as Painful as Heart Attacks

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