November 12, 1960: 'Menstruation and Accidents'

"Doctors know that the menstruating woman tends to be irritable, lethargic, depressed, violent or in rare cases, suicidal. She is less punctual and more forgetful; she may even be temporarily less intelligent. Last week, in the British Medical Journal, Dr. Katharina Dalton suggested that menstruation makes a woman more likely to be involved in an accident."

That was Time magazine's summary of "Menstruation and Accidents," published by Dr. Dalton in the November 12, 1960, edition of the British Medical Journal. Dr. Dalton found women were much more accident-prone in the days just before or just after the onset of menstruation. She attributed this to "slow reaction time and loss of judgment."

Dr. Dalton was also credited with coining the term PMS (premenstrual syndrome) in 1953.

* Full text of study: @

* Full text of Time article: @

* "The prophet of PMS": @

* "Once a Month: Understanding and Treating PMS" (first published in 1978): @

* "Schoolgirls' Behaviour and Menstruation" (1960 study by Dalton): @

* Dalton obituaries:

-- @ (The Times, London)

-- @ (The New York Times)

-- @ (The Lancet)

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