Period Quiz. Will you pass or fail?

How well do you know your body? Take this Period Quiz to find out!

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Question: True or False – Your period can cause insomnia.

Answer?

True! The drop in progesterone that accompanies a woman's menstrual cycle can cause sleeplessness in some. Of course there are plenty of other reasons it can be difficult to sleep during or right before getting your period. Backaches and cramps are just a couple of examples.

Question: What is the average age that most girls get their first period?

1) 8

2) 10

3) 12

4) 14

Answer?

The average age is 12, however a healthy girl can get her period anywhere between age 10 and 15.

Question: True or False – Women become more erratic on their period.

Answer?

False, actually. While increased irritability is a common symptom of PMS and many women report crying more easily during this time, there's no evidence (and we looked) that a woman is more likely to make irrational decision while on her period. The fact is, by the time a woman reaches adulthood, she's had about six years (highly emotional puberty years, at that) of experience with having a period. At this point, most women are emotionally intelligent enough to make decisions with the same level of rationality that they would at any other time of the month.

Question: Women menstruate for an average of how many years?

1) 10

2) 30

3) 40

4) 60

Answer?

On average, women will experience menstruation for approximately 40 years. That's over 450 menstrual cycles – Yikes! Researchers believe that this is over three times the length of time our hunter-gatherer ancestors had menstrual cycles. Of course, the average lifespan then was under 40 years total, so it's a trade-off.

Question: True or False – You can still get a period when you're pregnant.

Answer?

False. While some women do experience regular, monthly bleeding while pregnant (sometimes causing confusion early on as to whether or not a woman actually is pregnant), this is not a period. Seems a little unfair to have to deal with any period-like symptoms when you're pregnant though, doesn't it?

Question: About how much blood is lost each month from a period?

1) Between 1 and 2 cups

2) Less than 1 teaspoon

3) More than 13 tablespoons

4) Between 2 and 4 tablespoons

Answer?

The average female loses between 2 and 4 tablespoons of blood each cycle. If that doesn't sound like much, just think about how much damage 12 toddlers each carrying a teaspoon of red dye could do.

Question: True or False, menstruating can make girls anemic.

Answer?

False (most of the time). While girls and women often feel more tired during their periods, this is very rarely due to a loss of blood and more frequently caused by a drop in estrogen. However, in some cases of very heavy bleeding, girls may experience iron deficiency leading to anemia, so it's important to discuss any heavy or irregular periods with your doctor, as fainting went out of style with corsets.

Did you learn anything new about how your body handles menstruation? Let us know in the comments.

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