Ms Sama Tarek

Objectives

Male and Female The menstrual cycle

reproductive systems
and their functions
Oestrogen,
Fertilisation and progesterone and
embryo formation testosterone.

Role of placenta Methods of birth

control

Antenatal care and Some sexually

birth transmitted infections

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Vocabulary

Sexually
transmitted
diseases

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 17.1 Human reproductive
organs
17.2 Fertilisation and
development
Index
17.3 The menstrual
cycle
17.4 Birth control

17.5 Sexually transmitted

infections
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17.4
The
menstrual
cycle

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Adolescence

• The time when a person approaches sexual maturity is

called adolescence.
• Sperm production begins in a boy, and ovulation in a girl.
• During adolescence, the secondary sexual characteristics
develop.
• In boys, these include growth of facial and pubic hair,
breaking of the voice, and muscular development.
• In girls, pubic hair begins to grow, the breasts develop,
and the pelvic girdle becomes broader.

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Puberty

• These changes are brought about by hormones.

• The male hormone is testosterone. It is
produced in the testes. The female hormone is
oestrogen. It is produced in the ovaries.
• The point at which sexual maturity is reached
is called puberty.
• This is often several years earlier for girls than
for boys.
• At puberty, a person is still not completely
adult, because emotional development is not
complete
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Menstruation
• Usually, one egg is released into the oviduct every month in
an adult woman.
• Before the egg cell is released, the lining of the uterus
becomes thick and spongy, and full of tiny blood vessels to
prepare itself for a fertilised egg cell and later the embryo.
• If the egg cell is not fertilised, it is dead by the time it reaches
the uterus and falls down through the vagina.
• As the spongy lining is not needed now, it gradually
disintegrates and falls through the vagina.
• This is called menstruation, or a period. It usually lasts for
about five days.
• After menstruation, the lining of the uterus builds up again,
so that it will be ready to receive the next egg, if it is
fertilised.

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Hormonal control of the menstrual
cycle ( Ovulation)
• Oestrogen and progesterone are female sex hormone.
• The secretion of these hormones is controlled by two other
hormones secreted by the pituitary gland in the head, called LH and
FSH.
• During the menstrual cycle that happens every month a follicle
develops inside an ovary stimulated by FSH.
• The developing follicle secretes oestrogen, and the concentration of
oestrogen increases.
• The oestrogen makes the lining of the uterus grow thick and spongy.
• At the same time time, the pituitary gland secretes LH and FSH that
stimulate the follicle to keep on secreting oestrogen.
• When the follicle is fully developed, there is a surge in the
production of LH. This causes ovulation to take place.
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Hormonal control of the
menstrual cycle (menstruation)
• The empty follicle stops secreting oestrogen and
becomes a corpus luteum that secretes progesterone.
• Levels of FSH and LH fall.
• Progesterone keeps the uterus lining thick, spongy,
and well supplied with blood, in case the egg is
fertilised.
• If it is not fertilised, then the corpus luteum gradually
disappears and progesterone is not secreted any
more,so the lining of the uterus breaks down.
( menstruation)
• A new follicle starts to develop in the ovary, and the
cycle begins again.
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Hormonal control of the
menstrual cycle (pregnancy)

• If the egg is fertilised, the corpus luteum does not

degenerate so quickly.
• It carries on secreting progesterone until the embryo
sinks into the uterus wall, and a placenta develops.
• The placenta then secretes progesterone, and carries on
secreting it all through the pregnancy.
• The progesterone maintains the uterus lining, so that
menstruation does not happen during the pregnancy.

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 ?
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Thanks
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