Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 May 2002
According to Webster's Universal College Dictionary (Random House, 1997), normal means “conforming to the standard or the common type; usual regular, natural; free of any mental disorder; sane; free from disease or malformation”. On the basis of these various definitions, the answer to the question posed in the title of this review should be an unequivocal “no”. Incessant menstruation for years on end as it occurs today is certainly not natural, nor is it free of any mental disorder or free from disease. In fact, it conforms to no standard and it may cause serious dysphoric disorders and several diseases, of which anaemia and endometriosis are outstanding examples.