50 Fun Facts About Women's Health

What is the median length of the human menstrual cycle?

Normal cycles run anywhere from 21 to 35 days, and day one is counted as the first day of bleeding, not the last.

In the United States, what is the average age at which a woman has her final menstrual period?

The average is 46 in India and 47 in Turkey and Egypt, and smokers tend to reach it earlier.

Roughly how long after the start of the last menstrual period does childbirth typically occur?

That span is the gestational age, just over nine months, and it is divided into three trimesters of about three months each.

Which country produced the first human born through in vitro fertilisation, in 1978?

Louise Brown was born at Oldham General Hospital by planned caesarean; Robert Edwards received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Medicine for the work.

In which year did the US FDA first approve a combined oral contraceptive pill?

Enovid had already been sold for menstrual disorders before the contraceptive approval, and Margaret Sanger was instrumental in getting the pill developed.

Who was the first woman to earn a US medical degree, at Geneva Medical College in 1849?

The male students had voted to admit her as a joke. She went on to found the New York Infirmary for Women and Children with her sister Emily in 1857.

Virginia Apgar's newborn scoring system was first developed in which year?

She reportedly scribbled the five categories on a napkin when a resident asked what a newborn exam should cover: appearance, pulse, grimace, activity and respiration.

The Apgar score is given to a newborn at one minute after birth and again at what point?

The test measures breathing, skin colour, reflexes, motion and heart rate, each scored 0 to 2 for a maximum of 10.

The Pap smear used to screen for cervical cancer is named after a physician of which nationality?

Georgios Papanikolaou first reported in 1928 that cancer cells could be spotted in vaginal smears, but his method was not widely accepted until the 1940s.

Almost all cases of cervical cancer are linked to infection with which virus?

Around 99% of cases are linked to it, though most people who catch the virus never develop cancer, and vaccination can prevent up to 90% of cases.

In which year did the first vaccine against the cervical-cancer virus become available?

Gardasil was the quadrivalent original; Gardasil 9, approved in 2014, covers nine strains, and in 2022 the WHO endorsed a single-dose schedule for several HPV vaccines.

Endometriosis affects roughly what share of women of reproductive age worldwide?

That works out to nearly 200 million women. The tissue most often grows on the ovaries, fallopian tubes or the lining of the pelvis.

Long known as PCOS, what is the most common hormonal disorder in reproductive-age women?

A renaming to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome was proposed in the 2020s; it is one of the leading causes of infertility in women.

About 90% of ectopic pregnancies implant in which part of the body?

The tubes are named after the 16th-century Italian priest and anatomist Gabriele Falloppio and average 10 to 14 centimetres long.

Pre-eclampsia is characterised by new high blood pressure arising after which point in pregnancy?

Historically both hypertension and protein in the urine were required for the diagnosis; some modern definitions accept hypertension with organ damage instead.

Screening for gestational diabetes in normal-risk pregnancies is recommended during which window?

Untreated, it raises the baby's risk of macrosomia, low blood sugar after birth and jaundice.

Folic acid is taken in pregnancy mainly to reduce the risk of which group of birth abnormalities?

The group includes spina bifida and anencephaly. The recommended adult daily intake of folate in the US is 400 micrograms.

Which hormone drives uterine contractions in childbirth and also aids milk production and maternal bonding?

It works by positive feedback: each contraction triggers the release of more of the hormone, which makes the contractions stronger and more frequent.

The 'practice' contractions of pregnancy are named after a physician of which nationality?

John Braxton Hicks studied the later stages of pregnancy in 1872 and noticed that many women felt contractions long before birth.

The first milk a mother produces in the days after delivery, rich in antibodies, is called what?

In cattle and sheep it is so important that calves denied it almost always die of bacterial infection; the Old English dialect word for it is beestings.

Roughly what proportion of women experience depression after childbirth?

Onset is usually two weeks to a month after delivery, which distinguishes it from the short-lived 'baby blues' of the first days.

Where does the word 'placenta' come from?

The name refers to the organ's round, flat shape; the stage between the baby's birth and its delivery is the third stage of labour.

The human uterus is usually described as being the shape of which fruit?

Outside pregnancy it is about 7.6 cm long, 4.5 cm broad and 3 cm thick, and the everyday word 'womb' comes from Germanic rather than Latin.

Which of these is one of the largest cells in the human body, typically visible without a microscope?

When it fuses with a sperm at fertilisation it forms a diploid zygote, and the fused cell rapidly grows into a new organism.

Ovulation is triggered by a surge in which of these?

The surge is set off by positive feedback from rising estrogen, and some women feel the moment itself as Mittelschmerz, German for 'middle pain'.

Of the three major endogenous estrogens, which is the most potent and prevalent?

Estrone dominates after the reproductive years and estriol during pregnancy; estetrol is produced only by the fetal liver.

Where does the word 'menopause' come from?

It is a modern medical coinage: the ancient Greeks had no specific word for this stage of life and described menses as 'the monthlies'.

About what share of the skin's collagen is lost during the first five years after menopause?

The same drop in estrogen also accelerates bone loss, which is why post-menopausal women face higher risks of osteoporosis and fractures.

Ovarian failure before which age is termed 'premature ovarian insufficiency'?

Menopause before 45 is called 'early menopause'; smoking tobacco is one factor that brings it on sooner.

Premarin, an estrogen product marketed from 1942, was originally extracted from what?

Its name is a contraction of pregnant mares' urine. In 1975 studies showed unopposed estrogen raised endometrial cancer risk eightfold, which led to combined estrogen-progestogen therapy.

Which agency launched the Women's Health Initiative, a study of postmenopausal women, in 1991?

It was announced by Bernadine Healy, the first woman to direct the NIH, and grew into an ongoing study of more than 27,000 women.

Breast cancer is roughly how much more common in women than in men?

About five to ten percent of cases stem from an inherited predisposition such as BRCA mutations.

The chromosomal location of the BRCA1 gene was discovered in 1990 by a team led by which scientist?

Her team was at UC Berkeley; women with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations have around a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer.

What colour ribbons did survivor Charlotte Haley hand out in 1991, before pink became breast cancer's symbol?

Her grassroots ribbon was soon eclipsed by the pink version, of which Estée Lauder alone has distributed more than 70 million.

Mammography examines the breast using which type of radiation?

The first study came in 1913, when German surgeon Albert Salomon X-rayed 3,000 mastectomy specimens; 3D tomosynthesis reached clinical trials in 2008.

Where were the cells that became the immortal HeLa line taken from Henrietta Lacks in 1951?

The cells were cultured by George Otto Gey without consent, and her family did not learn of the cell line's existence until 1975.

Lupus takes its name from the Latin word for which animal?

The 13th-century name came from the idea that the rash looked like a bite from that animal; the facial rash is now usually described as butterfly-shaped.

Since the mid-1980s, what has been the leading cause of death in women?

Women often present with atypical heart-attack symptoms such as jaw, neck or shoulder discomfort, nausea, indigestion and fatigue.

About what proportion of women have at least one urinary tract infection in their lifetime?

UTIs are the most common bacterial infection in women, and up to 10% of women have one in any given year.

Vaginal yeast infections are typically caused by which species?

Around 75% of women have at least one such infection in their lives, and the fungus often lives harmlessly in the mouth, gut or vagina.

Toxic shock syndrome became widely known in the 1980s through its association with which product?

The riskiest brands were withdrawn soon after the link was found; the syndrome is caused by bacterial toxins from Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes.

Who patented the first usable commercial menstrual cup, in 1937?

A bullet-shaped cup had been patented in 1932 by the midwifery group of McGlasson and Perkins, but Chalmers' design was the first that actually sold.

Earle Haas patented the first modern applicator tampon under which brand name?

Gertrude Tenderich bought the patent rights and began manufacturing in 1933, hiring nurses to give public lectures on the product.

Pelvic floor exercises are named after Arnold Kegel, who published his description of them in which year?

A woman, Margaret Morris, had published the same exercises in 1936 and received little credit; Kegel also devised a perineometer to measure the squeeze.

Which people have the world's highest twin-birth rate, about 45–50 sets per 1,000 births?

One theory credits heavy consumption of a yam containing a natural phytoestrogen that may prompt both ovaries to release an egg.

Which chromosomal disorder occurs when a female's cells have only one X chromosome instead of two?

It is written 45,X; without hormone treatment those affected usually do not develop periods, and most have normal intelligence.

Which royal was hospitalised with hyperemesis gravidarum during her first pregnancy?

She was treated for the same condition in her two later pregnancies. Author Charlotte Brontë is often thought to have suffered from it as well.

The word 'osteoporosis' comes from Greek terms meaning what?

The disease is more common in women, and bone loss speeds up after menopause because of lower estrogen levels.

Osteoporosis is diagnosed when bone density falls how far below that of a healthy young adult?

The figure is expressed as a T-score, typically measured with a DXA bone density scan; screening is advised for women at 65.

Which American endocrinologist first linked osteoporosis with the postmenopausal state?

The term itself was coined earlier by the French pathologist Jean Lobstein.