Question

explain menstural cycle​

Answer 1

defination in biology... menstrual cycle is the time of uterine bleeding in which unfertilized egg and the thick uterine lining . it lasts for 2-8 days

Answer 2

The average length of the menstrual cycle is 28–29 days, but this can vary between women and from one cycle to the next. The length of your menstrual cycle is calculated from the first day of your period to the day before your next period starts.

Girls get their first period (menarche), on average, between the ages of 11 and 14 years. By this stage, other sexual characteristics have developed, such as pubic hair and budding breasts.

Hormones and the menstrual cycle  Hormones and the menstrual cycle  Phases of the menstrual cycle  Common menstrual problems  Where to get help 



Hormones and the menstrual cycle

Phases of the menstrual cycle

Common menstrual problems

Where to get help

The average length of the menstrual cycle is 28–29 days, but this can vary between women and from one cycle to the next. The length of your menstrual cycle is calculated from the first day of your period to the day before your next period starts.

Girls get their first period (menarche), on average, between the ages of 11 and 14 years. By this stage, other sexual characteristics have developed, such as pubic hair and budding breasts.

Hormones and the menstrual cycle

The menstrual cycle is complex and is controlled by many different glands and the hormones that these glands produce. A brain structure called the hypothalamus causes the nearby pituitary gland to produce certain chemicals, which prompt the ovaries to produce the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone.

The four main phases of the menstrual cycle are: 

menstruation

the follicular phase

ovulation

the luteal phase.

Menstruation

Menstruation is the elimination of the thickened lining of the uterus (endometrium) from the body through the vagina. Menstrual fluid contains blood, cells from the lining of the uterus (endometrial cells) and mucus. The average length of a period is between three days and one week.

Follicular phase

The follicular phase starts on the first day of menstruation and ends with ovulation. Prompted by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland releases follicle stimulating hormone (FSH). This hormone stimulates the ovary to produce around five to 20 follicles (tiny nodules or cysts), which bead on the surface.

Each follicle houses an immature egg. Usually, only one follicle will mature into an egg, while the others die. This can occur around day 10 of a 28-day cycle. The growth of the follicles stimulates the lining of the uterus to thicken in preparation for possible pregnancy.

Ovulation

Ovulation is the release of a mature egg from the surface of the ovary. This usually occurs mid-cycle, around two weeks or so before menstruation starts. 

During the follicular phase, the developing follicle causes a rise in the level of oestrogen. The hypothalamus in the brain recognises these rising levels and releases a chemical called gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH). This hormone prompts the pituitary gland to produce raised levels of luteinising hormone (LH) and FSH.

Within two days, ovulation is triggered by the high levels of LH. The egg is funnelled into the fallopian tube and toward the uterus by waves of small, hair-like projections. The life span of the typical egg is only around 24 hours. Unless it meets a sperm during this time, it will die.

When you want to have a baby you can improve your chance of getting pregnant if you know about ovulation and the ‘fertile window’ in the menstrual cycle.

transforms into a structure known as the corpus luteum. This structure starts releasing progesterone, along with small amounts of oestrogen. This combination of hormones maintains the thickened lining of the uterus, waiting for a fertilised egg to stick (implant).

If a fertilised egg implants in the lining of the uterus, it produces the hormones that are necessary to maintain the corpus luteum. This includes human chorionic gonadotrophin (HCG), the hormone that is detected in a urine test for pregnancy. The corpus luteum keeps producing the raised levels of progesterone that are needed to maintain the thickened lining of the uterus.

If pregnancy does not occur, the corpus luteum withers and dies, usually around day 22 in a 28-day cycle. The drop in progesterone levels causes the lining of the uterus to fall away. This is known as menstruation. The cycle then repeats.