For centuries, physicians described a puzzling illness that seemed to haunt young women on the edge of adulthood. Its sufferers were said to grow pale, weak, breathless, tired, and sometimes strangely green in complexion. Their appetites changed, their hearts raced, and their menstrual cycles became irregular.
The condition eventually became known as green sickness. But it also carried a more revealing nickname: the disease of virgins.
But what, exactly, was this disease? And did it really have any merit? Click on to find out.