Gunter will be in Victoria this week promoting her newest book
Photo by Talia Herman.
“I see so many people who suffer from bad care or ineffective therapies or who spend thousands of dollars on useless tests and supplements, and I wonder, what if they had known what I know?” Dr. Jen Gunter writes in the acknowledgement section of Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation. The line not only encapsulates the purpose of Gunter’s latest book, but her entire body of work both as a writer and as a gynecologist.
Born in Winnipeg, Gunter is known for using her background in medicine to dispel disinformation and provide education related to the menstrual cycle and reproductive health. Despite being a bestselling author with work featured in numerous publications, including The New York Times and The Globe and Mail, she remains a practicing doctor in San Francisco where she currently resides.
On Feb. 24, Gunter will join UVic professor Thea Cacchioni in conversation at the Victoria Conference Centre as part of the Blood book tour.
I spoke to Gunter over the phone during the Ontario leg of the tour to learn more about how she hopes to empower readers and the research areas that most need funding.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
I was hoping you could start by telling me a little bit about the origin of your new book, Blood: The Science, Medicine, and Mythology of Menstruation. Was there a specific moment when you realized that menstruation should be the next topic that you needed to cover in long form?
When I wrote both The Vagina Bible and The Menopause Manifesto, I included a very little bit of information about the menstrual cycle. And that was because I was writing about things that were sort of peripherally related. My editor kept saying, ‘Well, I don’t understand that,’ so I had to expand on it. I began to think that maybe I really needed to write more on this subject.
I did a TED Talk on menstruation that was the third most viewed talk of 2020. So obviously, that was something people were interested in. During the pandemic, during 2020, there was also a rise of disinformation about vaccines and the menstrual cycle and fertility due to COVID. I also started seeing a rise of disinformation from social media people. It was a combination of all of those things just coming together, and then [I was] like, ‘Okay, I think the universe is telling me that I should be doing a book on menstruation.’
Aside from the more obvious goal of providing a reliable resource, what are you hoping to accomplish with the book? How do you want people, specifically people who experience menstruation, to feel when they read the book?
In addition to wanting to empower people so they can advocate for themselves … I really want to destigmatize talking about menstruation. I was on a bunch of morning shows in Canada this week. Ten years ago, [I wouldn’t have believed that I would be] on talking about periods. I want to really break down taboos, so people really understand that this isn’t something to be ashamed about. Because when we make people feel ashamed, then they don’t know where to go to get information. They think they shouldn’t talk about it.
In the book, you talk about readers approaching or messaging you to share their stories and say that your work has made them feel less alone. Do you have a favorite interaction with a reader or a particular story that has stuck with you?
Just yesterday somebody tagged me on social media. They had come to my event in Oakville because they said they have polycystic ovarian syndrome. They learned more reading the chapter in my book, so in the last 24 hours, than they [had] ever learned in the last eight years about their condition. It’s both sad and wonderful … It’s so sad that this person has had this condition and it’s affected their life, but so amazing that I’ve been able to give them some information so they could be more empowered.
What advice do you have for people who feel like they’re not being heard by their doctors, especially here in Canada where not everyone has a family doctor, let alone one that they trust, and it might not be easy to get a second opinion?
It’s really hard when people are being dismissed. I think that going in empowered is the best solution. I mean, obviously, we need to change a lot of things with the medical system as well. But from an individual standpoint if people go in educated about a topic, if they’ve read the section of the book, they can say to their doctor, ‘Well, what about this treatment? What about this treatment? These are options that I’ve read about. These are evidence-based options. This is a book written by an expert. I want you to tell me why this isn’t the option for me.’
There are a lot of instances in the book where you say something along the lines of, “This area needs more research.” If you could fund further research into any specific area of menstruation, gynecology, or more generally women’s health? What would be your priority?
There are two things that I would actually fund. One is more research in the basic biology of endometriosis. Because we really don’t even understand what’s going on at a cellular level. There [are] so many different expressions of endometriosis. Some people have zero pain, but they have infertility. Some people have a very small amount of disease and have terrible pain. And some people are full of disease and have no pain at all, no infertility. Why is that? Are we dealing with different diseases? Or are we dealing with one disease expressed differently? Or is it due to the fact that people have different genetic variation? We don’t know those answers. We can’t design therapies until we know those answers.
I would also fund basic science research of polycystic ovarian syndrome. We don’t really understand the problems in ovulation with polycystic ovarian syndrome; why the follicles stall out and start producing this sort of hormonal imbalance. So we really need more basic science here. It’s a very challenging thing to study for a lot of different reasons, but I believe if you have enough money you could solve a lot of problems.
Women’s health is underfunded … But we know [PCOS] has major health applications, far beyond having irregular periods. It increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes, your risk of suicide. To really help people, we need to understand more about the basic biology.
What would you say to people who are dealing with those two conditions who feel frustrated and discouraged by the lack of research that’s being done and the lack of help they can access?
I’d say your feelings are valid. They’re absolutely valid. I would say get as educated from an evidence-based standpoint as you can, and I hope that I can contribute to that. And I would say get active politically because … things are underfunded at a federal level. For example, [it matters] where federal research dollars go. Our politicians are involved with that. Get active at a university level. There [are] so many glass ceilings at universities — how different labs get funded, all of these things matter. Demand that your deans do better. Demand that your department chairs do better. There are all kinds of different ways to get active.
