Last week, we noted that Wyeth’s new Lybrel birth control pill is arriving in pharmacies and, at the same time, noted that a provocative op-ed piece in The New York Times suggested the drug may become part of a trend to label menstruation as an unwanted disease. Karen Houppert, who wrote “The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo, Menstruation,” argued that a war of sorts was quietly being declared on the menstrual cycle.

She suggested the marketing treats menstruation as an ailment in need of treatment and, therefore, a “barrage of advertising and research highlighting the debilitating effects of periods and the joys of menstrual suppression” can’t be far behind. In other words, Houppert wrote, the marketing may be good for Wyeth and other drugmakers, but not necessarily good for women.

So we ran a brief poll and what you thought - Is menstruation a disease that needs to be cured? The short-lived poll reflects a small turnout and the results aren’t scientific, but could be interpreted as a temperature reading. Marketeers, take note. Be careful how you characterize menstruation.

No - 36 votes, or 82 percent;
Yes - 8 votes, or 18 percent.