What is menstruation and why it happens

In Eastern countries, girls are forced to wear a veil from the moment of the first menstruation. In Europe, this need does not arise, but the appearance of monthly excretions in any case changes the girl physiologically. What is menstruation and why does it occur?

To answer this question completely, we must first talk about the structure of such an organ as the uterus. From the inside it is covered with a unique veil - the endometrium. Its peculiarity is that it is destroyed and restored almost completely every month, if pregnancy has not come. Once a month, pieces of the endometrium come out together with the blood. Therefore, in the secretions there are characteristic clots, it is not only one blood. Menstruation - this is the process of exit of the endometrium with blood from the vagina.

The process of destruction and restoration of the endometrium is under the control of female sex hormones. Only the endometrium is subject to cyclic fluctuations of hormones, which makes it also unlike other tissues.

What is menstruation from the point of view of a physiologist? Start over. Because to be able to tear off the endometrium, it is necessary that it is formed. Endometrial cells grow and divide under the influence of estrogen. Such processes occur in the first half of the cycle, approximately in the first two weeks. If menstruation is not the first, the rapid growth of the endometrium begins immediately after the previous menstrual period. Under the influence of estrogen, the endometrium thickens, and also through it the spermatozoa grow. This is the preparation of the body for a probable pregnancy.

However, such rapid growth does not last long, in the second phase of the cycle, the synthesis of the second hormone, progesterone, begins. It has a retarding effect on the growth of the endometrium, which stops intensively developing. Instead, secretion is enhanced by endometrial cells of a particular medium. So conditions are created for the fertilized egg to easily enter the uterus. It is for this purpose that the endometrium grows, so that the medium is suitable for the implantation of the ovum.

So how does menstruation occur? If pregnancy in this cycle does not begin, at the end of it the level of estrogen and progesterone drops sharply. But even one reduction in the level of estrogen is enough to start menstruation. The day before the start of menstruation, the arteries supplying the endometrium are reduced. The surface of the endometrium at the same time whitens and suffers greatly from lack of blood. The next day the arteries expand very sharply, and the blood breaks through the surface of the endometrium. The ends of the arteries die after a while, but the small veins continue to bleed slowly. This is why there is a lot of blood in the menstrual secretions.

What is menstruation from the point of view of a histologist - tissue specialist? This is the death of the surface layer of the endometrium, which ends with its rejection. There remains only a deeper, basal layer, on the basis of which the new endometrium will "revive". This new endometrium will again form a special internal system of blood supply, subject to female hormones. And again the hormonal level at the end of the cycle will fall, unless the egg is fertilized.

From this point of view, it is interesting why, when using oral contraceptives, when the exact time of taking the tablets is missed, red discharges start that can go into full-fledged menstruation. The fact is that the decrease in the level of hormones in the blood instantly starts the reduction of the endometrial arteries, and then the expansion of them.

In general, many doctors do not recommend oral contraceptives because the fine mechanisms of regulation of hormone synthesis are broken, resulting in unpleasant side effects. So this is not an easy way to prevent pregnancy. In addition, conception often occurs, only a fertilized egg can not gain a foothold in the uterus, and therefore the pregnancy is interrupted. In fact, this is an abortion, for which you will have to bear moral responsibility before your conscience in the first place. The body of this, too, will not forgive.

What is menstruation? A regularly occurring process of rejection of the endometrium as a result of unsuccessful pregnancy.