Apple Highlights Women's Health Study Data to Help 'Destigmatize Menstruation'

In 2019, Apple partnered with the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the NIH's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to launch a Women's Health Study through its Research app on the iPhone and Apple Watch.

apple womens health study
Apple today highlighted preliminary data from the study, offering insights on women and their menstrual symptoms. Among the first 10,000 participants to enroll in the study and respond to a demographics survey, the most frequently tracked symptoms were abdominal cramps, bloating, and tiredness, all of which were experienced by more than 60 percent of participants who logged symptoms, according to Apple's press release.

More than half of the participants who logged symptoms reported acne and headaches, based on the preliminary findings. Some less widely recognized symptoms, like diarrhea and sleep changes, were tracked by 37 percent of participants logging symptoms.

Apple said the preliminary data from the Women's Health Study "highlights how large-scale, longitudinal research on menstruation can help advance the science around women's health and destigmatize menstruation."

"These findings take us a step further in validating and destigmatizing period symptoms," said Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple's vice president of Health. "Harvard Chan researchers are leaders in the field on this critically important subject, and we couldn't be more proud to support and help scale their efforts through the Research app."

Apple said the Women's Health Study aims to advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and how they relate to various health conditions, such as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), infertility, and menopausal transition. Participants must be at least 18 years old (at least 19 years old in Alabama and Nebraska and at least 21 years old in Puerto Rico) and have menstruated at least once in their life.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 14 New Features

Monday June 30, 2025 1:08 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are less than three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max in September this year. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an...
Apple Watch Ultra Night Mode Screen

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Launching Later This Year With Two Key Upgrades

Wednesday July 2, 2025 1:13 pm PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 appears to be nearly over, and it is rumored to feature both satellite connectivity and 5G support. Apple Watch Ultra's existing Night Mode In his latest Power On newsletter, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said that the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is on track to launch this year with "significant" new features, including satellite connectivity, which would let you...
iPhone 17 Pro Lower Logo Magsafe

iPhone 17 Pro's New MagSafe Design Revealed in Leaked Photo

Wednesday July 2, 2025 8:37 am PDT by
The upcoming iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are rumored to have a slightly different MagSafe magnet layout compared to existing iPhone models, and a leaked photo has offered a closer look at the supposed new design. The leaker Majin Bu today shared a photo of alleged MagSafe magnet arrays for third-party iPhone 17 Pro cases. On existing iPhone models with MagSafe, the magnets form a...
Wi Fi WiFi General Feature

iOS 26 Adds a Useful New Wi-Fi Feature to Your iPhone

Wednesday July 2, 2025 6:36 am PDT by
iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 add a smaller yet useful Wi-Fi feature to iPhones and iPads. As spotted by Creative Strategies analyst Max Weinbach, sign-in details for captive Wi-Fi networks are now synced across iPhones and iPads running iOS 26 and iPadOS 26. For example, while Weinbach was staying at a Hilton hotel, his iPhone prompted him to fill in Wi-Fi details from his iPad that was already...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Max Battery Capacity Leaked

Thursday July 3, 2025 5:40 am PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature the biggest ever battery in an iPhone, according to the Weibo leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post, the leaker listed the battery capacities of the iPhone 11 Pro Max through to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, and added that the iPhone 17 Pro Max will feature a battery capacity of 5,000mAh: iPhone 11 Pro Max: 3,969mAh iPhone 12 Pro Max: 3,687mAh...
iOS 18

Apple Releases Second iOS 18.6 Public Beta

Tuesday July 1, 2025 10:19 am PDT by
Apple today seeded the second betas of upcoming iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 updates to public beta testers, with the betas coming just a day after Apple provided the betas to developers. Apple has also released a second beta of macOS Sequoia 15.6. Testers who have signed up for beta updates through Apple's beta site can download iOS 18.6 and iPadOS 18.6 from the Settings app on a compatible...
maxresdefault

New MacBook With A18 Pro Chip Spotted in Apple Code

Monday June 30, 2025 8:05 am PDT by
Apple is developing a MacBook with the A18 Pro chip, according to findings in backend code uncovered by MacRumors. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Earlier today, Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that Apple is planning to launch a low-cost MacBook powered by an iPhone chip. The machine is expected to feature a 13-inch display, the A18 Pro chip, and color options...

Top Rated Comments

DocklandNightShift Avatar
56 months ago
Are they serious

What, exactly, is the “Stigma“ around a period

Their level of wokeness is reaching insane levels I never thought I’d see
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
56 months ago

Please explain how a study that "aims to advance the understanding of menstrual cycles and how they relate to various health conditions" is related to insanity and/or the "left".
--

Next we should de-stigimitize that everyone poops perhaps. Except to a broader demographic of people of all ages, not just children, because some of us are pedantic children no matter how old we get and despite new information and life experiences! weeee

x

Attachment Image
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth Tulhu Avatar
56 months ago

Anything that's remotely a joke is "stigma" in the West. Literally nobody in the world cares. They know it's natural and it happens and it's okay to joke about it. America has a penchant for the dramatics as usual.
Or, it's a legitimate issue. Being dismissive helps no one.

I found these articles interesting, in case you're actually interested in finding out what this is truly about:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565611/#:~:text=The%20stigma%20of%20menstruation%20has,revelation%20of%20one's%20menstrual%20status.

https://pha.berkeley.edu/2018/06/05/menstruation-stigma-must-stop-period/
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SuperMatt Avatar
56 months ago


[HEADING=2]'Destigmatize Menstruation'[/HEADING]
what the..?!

First world issues?
Sorry, it’s mostly not a first world issue at all. Not realizing that it’s a problem - THAT is a first world issue.


For example, in Venezuela, many women are forced to sleep in huts for the duration of their menstruation. In rural Ghana, menstruating women are forbidden from entering a house with a man or cooking food. Many young women don’t have access to any type of sanitary pad, which can cause them to miss school and cause them to be 70% more likely to have reproductive tract infections ('http://soothehealthcare.com/wp-content/uploads/pdfs/Cervical-Cancer-Research-by-Ms-Divya-Ramaswamy.pdf').

In addition, in Kenya, studies have shown that girls will miss an average of four days of school each month — adding up to about 20% of the school year. Women face discrimination, harassment, and are looked down upon because of menstruation, as it is seen as a form of weakness rather than a necessary biological function.
Full article was posted earlier in the thread.

Good thing Apple is actively educating people about this issue. From the posts I see in this thread, the awareness level about this is very low.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Darth Tulhu Avatar
56 months ago
I was not aware menstrual cycles needed destigmatization!

As a husband of 23 years and a girl's father, this is good news and I'm glad Apple is taking an interest in women's (and actually, everyone's) health.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CrashSpyroXP Avatar
56 months ago

I was not aware menstrual cycles needed destigmatization!

As a husband of 23 years and a girl's father, this is good news and I'm glad Apple is taking an interest in women's (and actually, everyone's) health.
Anything that's remotely a joke is "stigma" in the West. Literally nobody in the world cares. They know it's natural and it happens and it's okay to joke about it. America has a penchant for the dramatics as usual.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)