Everything you need to know about periods — including what's not normal

Prolonged and difficult periods are not normal, but because we don’t know enough about menstrual health, girls and women are suffering, says Dr Mary Ryan

Menstruation deserves the same spotlight as the menopause, and putting the focus on periods will “direct research, the doctors, and the scientists to a very important area”. Picture: iStock

A lot of women don’t realise what a normal period is,” consultant endocrinologist Dr Mary Ryan says. She is on a mission to change that with It’s Probably Your Period, the follow-up book to her bestselling study of hormones.

Ryan gets granular on “where it all begins” — the period — for a simple reason: Most of us, doctors included, don’t know enough about menstrual health, and women and girls are suffering as a result.