ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a study of the chlorotic syndrome that enhances the understanding of the determining factors for Chlorosis health-related problems. From an examination of the evidence offered by contemporary Spanish medicine, this research highlights some of the problems faced by young adult females in health matters. Among the most common symptoms, known as 'neurasthenic stigmas' the following stood out: neuro-muscular asthenia, with fatigue even after the slightest effort, cephalalgia, rachialgia, dyspepsia and gastrointestinal disorders, insomnia and cerebral depression. This chapter analyses the main aetiological hypotheses which were used to explain both the appearance and the disappearance of chlorotic states as well as the scientific discourse. The late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century medical statements suggested the social aetiology of chlorosis, relating it to the domestic and labour overexploitation suffered by women. Amenorrhoea could also be attributed to conditions of severe anaemia and malnutrition.
