What is the Menstrual Cycle? Video Lecture - Class 8

men are from Mars Women are from Venus
and though we may share a planet and
many other similarities our bodies
function in some majorly different ways
in this video we'll take a look at some
of those differences unique to women
women between the ages of 12 and 50
years old undergo a monthly cycle in
which their uterus prepares for
pregnancy it prepares for a fertilized
egg to settle and grow into a baby
if pregnancy does not occur the lining
breaks down and is expelled from the
uterus this is known as menstruation the
menstrual cycle usually lasts about 28
days during this period women undergo
drastic hormonal fluctuations as well as
physical discomforts such as abdominal
cramps headaches backaches and general
nausea this is led to it being
colloquially referred to as the curse
the first stage of the cycle is
menstruation and occurs if the egg has
not been fertilized this lasts between
three to seven days and is more commonly
known as a period because the egg has
not been fertilized the uterus lining
called the endometrium is not needed and
hence it breaks down and is lost through
the vaginal canal with some blood the
next stage is known as ovulation and is
when the woman is most fertile after
menstruation the lining of the uterus
thickens up again in preparation for a
fertilized egg and inside the ovary
follicle develops at about 14 days into
the cycle an egg is released from the
follicle in the ovaries and
fertilization could take place if the
egg is fertilized and embeds itself in
the thick uterine lining the lining is
not shared and thus menstruation does
not occur and the woman becomes pregnant
if it doesn't manage to embed then the
lining will break down and ministration
will occur and the cycle is repeated the
menstrual cycle is controlled by two
main hormones estrogen and progesterone
we met these hormones in this video
estrogen is produced by the ovaries and
causes the uterus lining the endometrium
to thicken again after menstruation so
that it is ready to receive an embryo
the guest road is produced by the empty
follicle in the ovary see how it is
produced after the egg has been released
and then drops off if the egg does not
embed in the uterus or if the egg is
unfertilized but if the egg is
fertilized and embeds then progesterone
levels stay high for the first 6 and 1/2
months of pregnancy the follicle
continues to produce it and the placenta
is formed so estrogen builds up the
uterus lining and progesterone maintains
it during the second half of the
menstrual cycle there are two other
hormones also involved the follicle
stimulating hormone or FSH and the
luteinizing hormone or LH both FSH and
LH are secreted by the pituitary gland
FSH causes the egg to mature in the
ovary and it also stimulates the ovaries
to release estrogen the estrogen then
stops FSH being produced so that only
one egg matures in the cycle LH causes
the mature egg to be released from the
ovary and stimulates the release of
progesterone you may want to browse the
internet to learn more about these
hormones
so from this video you should now have a
better understanding of how the
menstrual cycle works how the main
hormones estrogen progesterone control
it and how a woman's body is affected by
these drastic changes