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Doctors Confirm Period Cramps Are as Painful as a Heart Attack

One week out of every month, you can find us eating everything in sight and cursing to the gods above while doubled over in pain. Yep, menstrual cycles suck, and every woman post-puberty and premenopause will agree.

So it’s pretty crazy that we’re living in a world where, even though roughly half the population experiences the phenomenon, no one really talks about it. Finally, however, we have proof that we’re not just “being dramatic.”  

John Guillebaud, a professor of reproductive health at University College London, told Quartz that patients have described severe cramps, called dysmenorrhea (the fancy medical word for menstrual pain), as “almost as bad as having a heart attack.” Yeah, ibuprofen just isn’t gonna cut it.

Thanks, doc, for finally recognizing the struggle. Now if only we could get the dudes in our life to do the same.


RF1

Director, Branded Content + Cohost, Royally Obsessed Podcast

As Director of Branded Content at Gallery Media Group, Roberta helps oversee the ideation and execution of sponsored content and experiential campaigns across PureWow and ONE37pm, including PureWow’s 24 in ’24. She began her career in editorial nine years ago, and has written and edited countless articles on news, trends, fashion, beauty and the royal family. She’s also cohost of the Royally Obsessed podcast, named one of the best royals podcasts by The New York Times and Town & Country. She cowrote the book Royal Trivia: Your Guide to the Modern British Royal Family.