Episode Details

 The menstrual cycle plays an enormous part in the lives of half the population of the world. People tend to focus on it as a conduit to pregnancy, and it is. But through the hormonal fluctuations that drive this cycle, it affects many other aspects of health. A better understanding of what a, quote, "normal cycle" looks like and how to understand your own cycle can impact other facets of your health because most cells in a woman's body have receptors for estrogen and progesterone. Given the importance of this process, doctors and researchers, like the one I'll talk to today, are thinking about the menstrual cycle as a vital sign, like temperature or heart rate or blood pressure. It's a way to check in on many other physiological processes in your body, not only in adolescence, but through menopause.

The Menstrual Cycle as a Vital Sign: A Comprehensive review: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11790291/