The flow of blood that occurs during a menstruation period.
Flow of blood and other material from the uterus during menstruation.
The blood and other materials discharged from the womb at menstruation.
The monthly flow of bloody fluid from the endometrium.
“Menses” is another term for a menstrual period. It can also refer to the blood, tissue, and fluid expelled from the uterus during menstruation.
The monthly discharge of blood from the uterus. The mechanism of menstruation is quite simply this: Each monthly cycle starts with an egg rupturing from the ovary and passing into the Fallopian tube, where it awaits fertilization. If fertilization fails to take place, the lining of the womb or the endometrium, under the influence of the ovary, breaks down, splits off, and causes bleeding from small blood vessels. This blood then mingles with the broken-down endometrium to form the menstrual discharge. A new endometrium then commences to grow in preparation for a possible pregnancy the following month. There is a popular fallacy that menstruation is a monthly loss of “bad blood.” This is nonsense, for if the womb fails to bleed there is, of course, no blood to go anywhere and as it is normal blood anyway it cannot do harm. Normally, if a woman who has had regular periods fails to menstruate, it means that she is pregnant, though certain emotional strains can interfere with the menstrual cycle and cause suppression of the monthly period. However, this is less common than pregnancy. Those women who have always been irregular with their periods, and sometimes go months without one, usually have a defect of the womb or ovaries which is frequently amenable to hormone treatment.