Is Menstruation a disease?

In 1875, the American Journal of Obstetrics published an article by A. F. A. King, professor of Obstetrics at The Columbian University. It stated that menstruation was a sign of disease of the uterus. 

It was widely believed at the time that ovulation occurred during the bleed, therefore this was the best time to conceive. The author argued therefore that menstruation was unnatural and dangerous, and it stood in the way of sexual intercourse and procreation. 

“1st. Menstruation is the result of an interference with nature of a thwarting of her designs, of a violation of her laws, and is preventable by obedience to those laws”

“4th. Menstruation is a hemorrhage, it is attended with the rupture of blood-vessels. Blood-vessls were not made to be ruptured. No hemorrhage is natural.”

“7th. Evidence is wanting to prove that menstruation is common in women belonging to the savage races of mankind, who live more strictly in accordance with nature, untrammelled in their reproductive function by the usages of civilization. The Hindoo women, as a rule, do not menstruate; with them menstruation is considered a crime.” 

Extracts from “A New Basis for Uterine Pathology”, A.F.A. King, Am. J. Obst., 1875-1876