Period blood could soon be used to help identify female-only diseases

Most of us just regard our period as a regular reminder that we’re not pregnant. A monthly advent calendar with no daily chocolate, if you will.

But now, a new Biotech company is hoping to use menstrual blood to tackle female-only diseases.

The startup, called LifeStory Health, was created by Anna Villarreal from Boston. After struggling with her own reproductive health issues, Villarreal realised the lack of research into female medical issues.

For every one study into premenstrual syndrome, there are five studies into erectile dysfunction – despite the fact that 90 per cent of women suffer from PMS, and only 19 per cent of men struggle with erectile dysfunction.

Taking into consideration the difference in unique protein identifiers between male and female blood, Villarreal decided she wanted to tackle this inconsistency.

“I was having some reproductive issues, and I thought, “Why is there nothing that tests this blood source that might drive us closer to an answer given that it’s so proximal to the actual organs that are being affected?” she told the New Theory podcast.

She hopes that, by using more female blood, researchers will be able to identify female-centric diseases much faster.

LifeStory Health is still in the early stages of applying for patents before it can start conducting research, but there are hopes it’ll be up and running soon.

We’re unsure when the company will branch out to the UK, but for the time being we’ll take comfort in knowing our symptoms could be relieved sooner rather than later.

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