What is menstruating?!
Question: What is menstruating.?
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Answers:
Well, first of all, just a little tweak in word use. Menstruation is the monthly discharge of blood and other matter from the womb of a non-pregnant woman from the time she reaches puberty until the time she reaches menopause (menstruation stops). Menstruating is the active discharge of this blood and matter each month IF the woman is not pregnant.
Menstruation begins when a female reaches puberty, meaning her hormones, womb, and ovaries have reached maturity and she becomes fertile (usually), able to become impregnated. Females reach puberty at a range of ages, some as young as 8 yrs old, and some not until their late teens. Instinct seems to factor into this situation also. The desire to have a baby that will carry forward our dna, seemingly making us immortal, is very strong.
Females are born with all the eggs they will ever have; they do not produce new ones. So as a woman ages, so also do her eggs. When women reach puberty, an egg will receive hormonal signals and start to travel down the fallopian tube that leads from the ovary to the womb, or uterus. Meanwhile, responding to its own hormonal signals, the womb will begin to prepare itself to receive, nourish, and support the egg if the egg becomes fertilized. This most commonly occurs if the woman has sexual intercourse with a male who has lively sperm.
The way the uterus prepares itself is to start pumping up its inner lining with very rich blood, rich in other nutrients also, so that if a fertized egg arrives and attaches itself to the uterine lining, the uterus has a head start on making sure the egg has plenty to sustain itself and the many complex stages it will go through on its way to becoming a baby. The uterus keeps up with these needs and eventually forms the placenta.
So all this preparation is going on every month, or approximately every 28 days: the womb stocks itself with rich blood and nutrients, and the egg is tripping down the fallopian tube looking to meet up with sperm. However, if the egg fails to meet its soul-sperm and lands in the womb unfertilized, the womb immediately begins shedding all that rich lining and it kicks the egg out, too, and all this throwing out of stuff in the form of blood and other matter is called "menstruation." And while the cleaning out is taking place, a woman is said to be "menstruating."
This process occurs about every 28 to 30 days when the woman is not pregnant, and it takes from 3 to 5 days to clean out all the goodies. This goes on from puberty, let's say age 12, to menopause when it all stops (but it takes its time doing the "stopping"). Menopause usually begins when a woman reaches her 50's. By that time her eggs are also 50 years old, kind of worn out, and less susceptible to becoming fertilized - but not completely unable to achieve conception. Just ask any 50-year old woman who recently gave birth. But eventually, in its own time, it is over.
Health Question & Answer
Menstruation begins when a female reaches puberty, meaning her hormones, womb, and ovaries have reached maturity and she becomes fertile (usually), able to become impregnated. Females reach puberty at a range of ages, some as young as 8 yrs old, and some not until their late teens. Instinct seems to factor into this situation also. The desire to have a baby that will carry forward our dna, seemingly making us immortal, is very strong.
Females are born with all the eggs they will ever have; they do not produce new ones. So as a woman ages, so also do her eggs. When women reach puberty, an egg will receive hormonal signals and start to travel down the fallopian tube that leads from the ovary to the womb, or uterus. Meanwhile, responding to its own hormonal signals, the womb will begin to prepare itself to receive, nourish, and support the egg if the egg becomes fertilized. This most commonly occurs if the woman has sexual intercourse with a male who has lively sperm.
The way the uterus prepares itself is to start pumping up its inner lining with very rich blood, rich in other nutrients also, so that if a fertized egg arrives and attaches itself to the uterine lining, the uterus has a head start on making sure the egg has plenty to sustain itself and the many complex stages it will go through on its way to becoming a baby. The uterus keeps up with these needs and eventually forms the placenta.
So all this preparation is going on every month, or approximately every 28 days: the womb stocks itself with rich blood and nutrients, and the egg is tripping down the fallopian tube looking to meet up with sperm. However, if the egg fails to meet its soul-sperm and lands in the womb unfertilized, the womb immediately begins shedding all that rich lining and it kicks the egg out, too, and all this throwing out of stuff in the form of blood and other matter is called "menstruation." And while the cleaning out is taking place, a woman is said to be "menstruating."
This process occurs about every 28 to 30 days when the woman is not pregnant, and it takes from 3 to 5 days to clean out all the goodies. This goes on from puberty, let's say age 12, to menopause when it all stops (but it takes its time doing the "stopping"). Menopause usually begins when a woman reaches her 50's. By that time her eggs are also 50 years old, kind of worn out, and less susceptible to becoming fertilized - but not completely unable to achieve conception. Just ask any 50-year old woman who recently gave birth. But eventually, in its own time, it is over.
Health Question & Answer
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstruatio...
It's what you do when your period *isn't* late. :-)Health Question & Answer
It's what you do when your period *isn't* late. :-)Health Question & Answer