How does the menstrual cycle work?
Description
Vocal Characteristics
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EnglishVoice Age
Young Adult (18-35)Accents
British (General)Transcript
Note: Transcripts are generated using speech recognition software and may contain errors.
The menstrual cycle is an important biological process that prepares a woman's body for the possibility of pregnancy. The cycle takes place over roughly 28 days and is driven by four main hormones follicle stimulating hormone, lutin icing hormone, estrogen and progesterone. They work in synchronized waves coordinated by the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the gonads, or ovaries, also called the hypothalamic pituitary gonad access. The cycle begins with the release of gonadotropin releasing hormone from the hypothalamus in the brain, which tells the pituitary gland in the head to release follicle stimulating hormone, which travels in the blood to the ovaries. Follicle stimulating hormone causes the small sacs in the ovaries called follicles to grow each follicle contains a single immature egg and as they grow, they pump out high levels of estrogen which feeds back through the hypothalamic pituitary go nadal axis to tell the pituitary gland to produce lutin icing hormone. This stops the growth of smaller follicles and signals the most mature follicle to release its egg, which then travels down the fallopian tube to the uterus or womb. This is ovulation and occurs around the middle of the menstrual cycle during this window, the egg can be fertilized by sperm. If this happens, the egg becomes an embryo and if pregnancy occurs, the menstrual cycle stops during ovulation, the follicle that released an egg becomes a corpus luti. Um A hormone generating mass of cells that releases progesterone, causing the walls of the womb to thicken with blood and nutrients. This endometrium, or womb lining is thickened, ready for a potential embryo to attach and grow if pregnancy happens if no embryos attach, the level of progesterone drops rapidly, the endometrium breaks down and is shed as menstrual bleeding, known as a period. The cycle starts all over again on the first day of menstrual bleeding and continues every month throughout a woman's fertile life. You can learn more about the menstrual cycle and how it is coordinated on the you and your hormones website.