COVID cases nearing an all-time low are starting to plateau in the United States, suggesting

that they may start to rise sometime soon.

Moderna and Pfizer applied for emergency use authorization for a second COVID vaccine

booster, but if it were approved, the US government wouldn't have the funding to provide

it.

Nearly 10 million Ukrainians have left their homes, and 3 million have left their country,

creating one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

This is American Dissected, I'm your host, Dr. Abdul-Alsayah.

I've never menstruated.

I don't know what the experience is like, and honestly, because of the stigma around

menstruation, it's not really a topic of conversation I've had with many people.

I do remember one time, though.

When I was sent to a local pharmacy to pick up period products for a family member, and

when one of the clerks asked if they could help, I mentioned what I was looking for.

They gave me a look, I can only describe some parts pity and some parts disgust.

Here I was, a grown man, a doctor, who understands full well that menstruation is a perfectly

normal, perfectly healthy part of adult physiology, from nearly 50% of the whole world, and I felt

shame for helping my family member with a necessary purchase.

And now that I say that, I feel ashamed about my shame.

It's completely messed up, how society is stigmatized a regular part of our human physiology.

It keeps us from having honest conversations about what people need as they go through

that experience.

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