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What is the female cycle?
The female cycle, also called female sexual cycle or menstrual cycle, is a set of processes and mechanisms mediated by hormones that take place in the ovaries and in the uterus. It is a physiological process in women that begins in adolescence.
Next, hormonal imbalances can negatively affect the female cycle, generating menstrual dysfunction, mood swings, infertility, among other disorders.
What is the female cycle?
Very simply, the menstrual cycle are hormonal processes that occur in a woman. Likewise, it can be interpreted as rhythmic variations of certain hormones and their effects on the ovaries and the endometrium, the innermost layer of the uterus.
Specifically, an average woman has a cycle that lasts 28 days, but the medical literature highlights that those 28 days can be more or less 7 days. All this means that the cycle can be 21 days and a maximum of 35 days.
From this it follows, the terms regular menstrual cycle and irregular menstrual cycle. Many women think that because they do not bleed on the same date every month, they are irregular.
The truth is that a woman is regular as long as her cycle is not less than 21 days or more than 35 days. So is your cycle regular or irregular?
Hormones involved in the female cycle
Now, it is important that you know that the endocrine system works with axes, for this reason there is the hypothalamic - pituitary - ovary axis.
What happens is that the hypothalamus is going to release a substance that will stimulate the pituitary in order to release into the blood the hormones that will cause the effects on the menstrual cycle.
It is good to remember that the hormones released by the pituitary are follicle stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone. On the other hand, in the ovary they will induce the synthesis of estradiol, progestanes and testosterone.
In short, the hormones involved in the female menstrual cycle in order of release are as follows.
· Hypothalamic hormone : Gonadotropin-releasing hormone.
· Pituitary hormones: Luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone.
· Ovarian hormones: Estradiol, progestans and testosterone.
You may be wondering, do women have male sex hormones? The answer is yes, but in concentrations lower than those of men.
However, this hormone is transformed by an enzyme into estradiol, which is the female hormone par excellence.
Phases of the female cycle
Very well! So far you have only known what the cycle is and what are the hormones involved. It is time for them to learn what happens inside the ovaries and in the uterus. First of all, there are two cycles, which are.
Ovarian cycle
Uterine cycle
Both cycles occur simultaneously, the difference is that one occurs in the ovary and the other in the uterus. At the same time, each cycle is subdivided into two phases. In the first instance, the ovarian cycle is divided into the preovulatory or follicular phase and the postovulatory or luteal phase.
For its part, the uterine cycle is divided into a proliferative phase and a secretory phase. Additionally, the preovulatory or follicular phase agrees with the proliferative phase in the uterus, and the postovulatory or luteal phase coincides with the secretory phase in the uterus.
What happens in the female sexual cycle?
Everything begins on day 1 of the cycle, which corresponds to the first day of bleeding, that is, the first day of menstruation. What happens is that the endometrium, which is the inner lining of the uterus, "peels off" and gives rise to bleeding through the female genitalia.
Hormonally, this occurs because the levels of progesterone, whose function was to keep the endometrium thick, decreased. Remember that the intention is for a zygote to be implanted, in simple words, for a pregnancy to occur.
On the contrary, if a pregnancy does not occur, then the endometrium "peels off". This decrease in progesterone hormone levels serves as a signal to the hypothalamus to stimulate the pituitary gland to release the follicle-stimulating and luteinizing hormones.
This action gives way to the beginning of the preovulatory or follicular phase. Basically, in this phase, 20 follicles begin to mature in the ovaries. As they mature, they synthesize estrogen, while in the uterus, the endometrium begins to thicken.
Then, on day 14 of the cycle, a peak of the pituitary hormones occurs, consequently ovulation occurs, which is nothing more than the exit of the oocyte from the ovum.
Later, the postovulatory or luteal phase begins in the ovary and the secretory phase in the endometrium. What happens is that what remains of the follicle is going to transform into the corpus luteum, a structure responsible for synthesizing progesterone.
Finally, when day 28 arrives again, progesterone levels begin to decrease, so that bleeding occurs and a new female sexual cycle begins again.
What is folliculogenesis?
Did you know that a girl is born with all the eggs for her entire life? Approximately, there are 400,0000 eggs. Thus, each new cycle matures between 15 to 20 follicles, which contain the oocyte inside.
These follicles are made up of different cellular structures, which have a specific action in the cycle.
The important thing about this is that girls have their first menstruation when hormones begin to stimulate the ovaries so that ovulation can occur.
Alterations of the female cycle
The menstrual cycle can be affected by multiple factors such as stress, tobacco, premenstrual syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, uterine myomatosis, among others.
Similarly, it can be accompanied by menstrual pain or cramps, the medical term for which is dysmenorrhea. Also, you can have alterations in the amount of blood, they can be abundant and profuse, until you do not have menstruation.
