WEBVTT - How Menstruation Works 0:00:01.440 --> 0:00:04.240 Welcome to Stuff you should know, a production of I 0:00:04.360 --> 0:00:13.560 Heart Radio. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:18.000 and there's Chuck and Jerry's here with us UM for oversight, 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:21.800 and this is stuff you should know. Just a couple 0:00:21.840 --> 0:00:27.360 of dudes tucking menstruation. That's right, and it sounds totally 0:00:27.400 --> 0:00:29.560 normal when you say it like that. It sounded like 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:32.720 the making copies guy. You signed it to me like 0:00:32.760 --> 0:00:38.599 Troy McClure. Yeah, you're right, I am. I'm definitely more 0:00:38.720 --> 0:00:43.120 right than you were. That's right, that's exactly right. That 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:46.519 was dead on. Actually you weren't even trying. Oh I 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:49.440 used to do Troy McClure back in the day. Yeah, 0:00:49.479 --> 0:00:53.520 that was one of my bits. Well you still got it, buddy. Thanks. 0:00:54.480 --> 0:00:57.040 And I don't know, I think long time listeners will 0:00:57.080 --> 0:01:00.720 have picked up Chuck that we're stalling right now. Um. 0:01:00.920 --> 0:01:03.000 New listeners might be like, what are these guys doing 0:01:03.040 --> 0:01:05.200 and talking about? I'm never listening to them again, But 0:01:05.400 --> 0:01:08.320 hang on, wait, just chill out. We do this sometimes, 0:01:08.440 --> 0:01:11.960 especially when we're taking on a topic that we're um 0:01:12.120 --> 0:01:15.360 only equipped to understand as researchers. Yes, I think it's 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.880 a good way to put it. We are researchers. That's 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.960 what we do. And anybody who researches something, um well 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:27.160 and with an open mind, I think is perfectly legitimate, 0:01:27.480 --> 0:01:30.240 in a perfectly legitimate position to talk about whatever it 0:01:30.319 --> 0:01:35.760 is carving out our territs right here, I guess so 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:40.200 uh yeah, but we're talking menstruation today. We are. And 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:43.800 another bit of just upfront knowledge that we want to 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:46.880 drop is, uh, we're gonna use different terms. We're gonna 0:01:46.920 --> 0:01:49.360 say girls, we're gonna say women. We're gonna say people 0:01:49.440 --> 0:01:52.400 who men straight because we don't want to overlook the 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:56.520 trans community. And even though you know most websites you 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.280 go to, we'll still say girls and women. We're gonna 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:02.480 just sort of interchange words here and there to cover 0:02:02.560 --> 0:02:06.880 all our bases and to be respectful of of everybody. Yeah. 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:10.080 Another one will be men's straight towards we should just 0:02:10.080 --> 0:02:17.600 say menstruators period. Didn't even mean that, wow, chuck, so 0:02:17.680 --> 0:02:19.280 um yeah, I think that was really good to say. 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.360 And it's not like, you know, I'm sure we'll fall 0:02:21.400 --> 0:02:25.760 into women girls, um pretty frequently. Uh. And that's not 0:02:25.800 --> 0:02:30.160 to say that we are um judge or critical of 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:33.920 the concept of men menstruating UM, it's just that it's 0:02:34.080 --> 0:02:37.480 it's a fairly new concept to us and we're still, um, 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:40.680 we're still getting used to it. So please please accept 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:43.120 our apologies in advance if if we do that. And 0:02:43.160 --> 0:02:47.600 also for our younger listeners, especially are the young girls 0:02:47.600 --> 0:02:49.800 who listened to our show. You know, in addition to 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.120 our Puberty Female Puberty podcast, we did, we did male 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:56.800 Puberty two. Right, we did both. Yeah, we did both. Um, 0:02:56.840 --> 0:02:59.680 this is something that you know, I think is a 0:02:59.720 --> 0:03:02.720 lot of anxiety comes with Uh, We'll go ahead and 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.880 say the word monarchy, which is the first period, the 0:03:05.880 --> 0:03:09.400 first menstruation cycle that someone can undergo. We I've used 0:03:09.400 --> 0:03:11.760 that before. It's one of our favorite words from the 0:03:11.760 --> 0:03:14.919 early days of the show, from I think the Totem 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:18.680 Pull episode. I think so because the Native Americans celebrate 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:24.120 the monarchy in the right monarchy, that's right. But especially 0:03:24.120 --> 0:03:28.000 to those listeners, we just want you to know that, uh, 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:31.520 we hope that you embrace this as a the wonder 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:34.880 of human biology that it is, because it's just an 0:03:34.920 --> 0:03:39.680 amazing thing that happens, and uh, knowing more about it, 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:42.720 I think it's just powerful for little boys, little girls 0:03:42.960 --> 0:03:46.600 across the gender spectrum. And men and grown men and 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.760 uh women alike. I suspect that of all those groups, 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:54.600 grown men are the most childish about it, probably and 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:57.760 probably know the least about it. M hmm. But I 0:03:58.000 --> 0:04:00.920 think we're dying off slowly, but surely we're being replaced 0:04:00.960 --> 0:04:05.360 by way cooler, smarter with it um people. So that's cool. 0:04:05.800 --> 0:04:09.960 It'll go away eventually. But what we're talking about is menstruation, 0:04:10.000 --> 0:04:14.520 which is uh. And again we're gonna say some stuff 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:17.960 like four weeks is a menstrual cycle, a biological cycle, 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.560 but we know that there are wide ranges of times. 0:04:21.600 --> 0:04:24.719 There are people who don't menstright at all, or whose 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:29.040 menstruation is occasional. Um. There are all sorts of reason 0:04:29.080 --> 0:04:31.440 for all these things. So we're using a lot of 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:35.039 like averages and average terms here, um. So just know 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.359 that going in. But it's roughly takes place every four weeks. 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:42.400 And what is simply happening, which is amazing, is that 0:04:42.680 --> 0:04:46.520 the lining of the uterus, uh, the endometrium is getting 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:52.479 ready to host an egg that is fertilized, and that 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:57.800 thing sheds, and with that shedding comes blood and become 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.839 in some tissue, and that's called men disease, and it 0:05:02.000 --> 0:05:06.120 starts generally without monarchy anywhere from twelve to thirteen. It 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:10.240 ends generally at menopause somewhere around fifty to fifty two 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:14.479 fifty three. So that means that between the ages of 0:05:14.480 --> 0:05:17.719 twelve to thirteen and the early fifties, someone will go 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.919 through an average of four hundred and fifty six cycles, 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.920 or about six point two years of their life. Isn't 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:30.040 that interesting? Wow, that's amazing nice math. Yeah, there's a 0:05:30.080 --> 0:05:35.240 lot of lifetime math I figured out. So um, I 0:05:35.279 --> 0:05:39.200 think even people who have had um cycles, they're they're 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:40.680 reaching the end of their what do you say, four 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:45.000 hundred and thirty six fifty six cycles? Maybe they're on 0:05:45.279 --> 0:05:49.080 four fifty five and they're like one more baby. By 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:51.000 the way, if you're just going through monarchy, it doesn't 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:54.279 actually work like that. I'm just teasing. But my point 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.440 is that I think even people who menstrate and have 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:02.960 menstruated for years in decades don't necessarily know why women 0:06:03.640 --> 0:06:06.120 men's stright in the first place. Why would a human 0:06:06.160 --> 0:06:09.960 being men's stright? Um. There's practical reasons, which we'll get into, 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:14.039 but evolutionarily speaking, we don't fully understand it, and The 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:16.560 reason why we don't really understand is because so few 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:20.960 mammals actually men's strate. There's plenty of other adaptations for 0:06:21.080 --> 0:06:23.640 getting an egg ready to be fertilized, and then what 0:06:23.720 --> 0:06:25.800 happens if the egg doesn't give fertilized what you do 0:06:25.839 --> 0:06:28.599 after that, But men's struation is is fairly rare in 0:06:28.640 --> 0:06:31.160 the animal kingdom. Humans are one of just a handful 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:36.240 of bright, shiny um people. Yeah, they have companions in 0:06:36.279 --> 0:06:39.280 the uh, some primates like the chimp or the large 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:45.760 headed capuchin, the vulvous fruit bat. Interestingly, Uh, there's a shrew, 0:06:46.520 --> 0:06:49.719 an elephant, shrew and a mouse. Did you look those up? 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:53.880 Oh my gosh, they're uh, and the spiny mouse. They 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:59.039 all men straight. Um. But most mammals undergo something called 0:06:59.120 --> 0:07:02.719 an estrus psych goal. Uh. It could be a seasonal thing, 0:07:02.800 --> 0:07:05.440 which is why you have things like mating season. Uh. 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:08.280 In the case of some other mammals like cats, it's 0:07:08.320 --> 0:07:11.280 actually or our friends squirrels, uh, friendly squirrels that we 0:07:11.360 --> 0:07:15.000 just talked about. It's actually brought on by the act 0:07:15.040 --> 0:07:19.840 of sex, which is really interesting and sort of makes sense. Yeah, 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:22.360 but it also makes sense. It's like, let's not let's 0:07:22.360 --> 0:07:25.440 not get into anything before it's really time, right, So 0:07:25.480 --> 0:07:27.480 that to me makes a tremendous amount of sense. And 0:07:27.680 --> 0:07:29.760 the reason that there would be any kind of cycle 0:07:29.800 --> 0:07:33.920 at all, whether it's an estra cycle or a menstrual cycle, um, 0:07:34.040 --> 0:07:37.920 is because there's a really high energetic and metabolic costs 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:43.040 to keeping the uterus prepared to host a fertilized egg, 0:07:43.760 --> 0:07:46.680 and that if you're an animal that constantly has a 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:48.880 uterus ready to accept an egg, you're going to expend 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:53.080 way more energy, way more of your metabolism um keeping 0:07:53.120 --> 0:07:56.800 that uterus fluffy as they say sometimes and ready for 0:07:56.880 --> 0:07:59.840 an egg, a fertilized egg, than an animal who just 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.200 does it once in a while or when it's triggered 0:08:02.200 --> 0:08:05.040 by sex. So evolutionarily speaking, it makes sense for it 0:08:05.080 --> 0:08:08.280 to be seasonal or activated by sex, or even a 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:11.560 monthly thing. Yeah, And I just that's something I never 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.440 thought about. I never stopped and thought, well, why can't 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.360 you just get pregnant any time evolutionarily speaking, because that 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:22.480 would seem like a big time advantage if you're trying to, 0:08:22.560 --> 0:08:25.080 you know, put people out in if your took took 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:26.880 and you're trying to help put people out there in 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:30.320 the world, right, But it does make a lot of sense, 0:08:30.360 --> 0:08:33.840 and they've seen evidence in this like if someone and 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.040 like a developing nation maybe just you know, have like 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:43.080 extreme nutritional deficiencies, Uh, they may not menstruate at all 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:47.480 because their body like it extends that kind of like 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:52.160 that drastic of a I guess, just a workload on 0:08:52.200 --> 0:08:54.560 the body that that's that's one of the things that 0:08:54.600 --> 0:08:58.400 can get rid of if you're malnourished. Yeah, malnourished. It 0:08:58.440 --> 0:09:01.640 also pops up in the elite ath eleats because they 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:04.240 are exercising so much and also usually have such a 0:09:04.440 --> 0:09:07.400 small amount of body fat. So there's like, I guess 0:09:07.400 --> 0:09:11.000 your your body does like a body check every month, 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.000 and it's like, okay, are we equipped to do this? 0:09:13.400 --> 0:09:15.559 And if not, okay, we'll just skip it. If so, 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:18.560 let's go through it. Yeah, And the really interesting thing 0:09:18.880 --> 0:09:21.640 is we were talking about some of the mammals that 0:09:21.640 --> 0:09:26.040 go through the extra cycle. They don't actually um bleed, 0:09:26.080 --> 0:09:29.360 they don't have an external shedding process. They re absorb 0:09:29.440 --> 0:09:33.360 it and it is literally digested in the body by 0:09:33.480 --> 0:09:36.440 enzymes that are there just to do that. So that 0:09:36.520 --> 0:09:41.880 question is still there, like why would evolutionarily speaking, why 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.160 would the menstruation process to where you literally shed that 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:48.360 lining out of your body take place. And they're not 0:09:48.440 --> 0:09:52.240 really sure why no, But there's theories. One of the 0:09:52.280 --> 0:09:56.320 predominant ones up until the nineteen nineties. And after I 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:58.800 say this, you'll be like, you mean the eighteen nineties, 0:09:58.880 --> 0:10:02.560 and I'll say again, the ninety nineties. They used to 0:10:02.600 --> 0:10:06.000 think that the purpose of menstruation was to wash the 0:10:06.120 --> 0:10:09.360 uterus out of pathogens that might have been introduced by 0:10:09.440 --> 0:10:14.319 seamen during sex um. Until the nineteen nineties, that's what 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.160 they thought that menstruation was four And then finally somebody 0:10:17.240 --> 0:10:20.200 was like, let me, let me study this, and they did. 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.160 They conducted a study where they tested bacterial loads of 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:27.559 different phases um from a woman's uterus and found that 0:10:27.600 --> 0:10:29.880 not that that's actually not the case at all, So 0:10:29.920 --> 0:10:33.520 that one finally got discarded. It did, and whoever proposed 0:10:33.559 --> 0:10:37.280 it to begin with, they're like, he's sure, Like, yeah, man, 0:10:37.840 --> 0:10:39.439 I got a Nirvana show. I'm trying to get to 0:10:39.559 --> 0:10:43.320 it sounds good to me. They went Nirvana, this is 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:48.120 the ninety nineties. Yeah, that was kind of a dud. 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:52.319 I'm sorry. I tried to bring forth the chuckle a 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.520 laugh or something, I can't do it like you. Um. 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:59.240 The other thing they thought might at least be related 0:10:59.280 --> 0:11:01.960 to this is maybe the size of the animal, or 0:11:02.000 --> 0:11:04.920 the size of the uterus in relation to the size 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.720 of the animal. But there's such a large range of 0:11:07.880 --> 0:11:10.840 uterine size and the animal kingdom that do men stright 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:13.960 that they basically kind of toss that out as well. Yeah, 0:11:14.000 --> 0:11:16.480 and it's the reason why that was a theory, because 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:19.920 you're like, elephant, true, spiny mouse, what kind of stupid 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:23.520 theories that we've just very recently discovered the other animals 0:11:23.559 --> 0:11:26.000 men straight. We didn't know that at all, So that's 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:29.360 why that theory was so longstanding. And then also they 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.560 think maybe it has to do with um, the way 0:11:32.600 --> 0:11:37.040 the endometrium forms, or the fact that um, some animals 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:42.040 for um, carry their young in placenta. Those are still 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:44.160 the jury's out on them. But yeah, we don't really 0:11:44.200 --> 0:11:48.960 have any idea of you know, what what menstruation is 0:11:49.000 --> 0:11:52.120 actually for. We know what it does, but how did 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:55.080 it come along? And so it remains a beautiful mystery 0:11:55.440 --> 0:11:59.480 of the springtime of womanhood. All right, should we take 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:03.679 a break and get into the nitty gritty, Yes, all right, 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:31.440 we'll be right back after this with details on menstruation. Chuck. 0:12:31.480 --> 0:12:33.959 No one can see me right now, but I'm holding 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:37.320 each elbow very tightly, and I didn't realize I was 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:41.800 even doing it. Like, I'm really anxious right now. We 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:44.079 got this, We did. We shouldn't get nervous about this stuff. 0:12:44.080 --> 0:12:46.559 Every time we tackled something like this, we always get 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.240 great support and say, you guys do what you do, 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:51.160 which is, you know, research something. And it's not like 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:55.920 we're not serial killers yet we've talked about them. I 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:58.400 would hazard to say that almost all the things we 0:12:58.400 --> 0:13:00.880 talked about we don't have experience with. No, No, definitely, 0:13:00.920 --> 0:13:03.199 I'm not really anxious about that. What I'm anxious about 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.920 is screwing it up and giving a thirteen year old 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:10.960 some bad information or making it harder to understand them before, 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:14.480 or you know, just I just want to be helpful 0:13:14.520 --> 0:13:16.880 with it, and I'm anxious about not being as helpful 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:18.640 as we could be. That's what I'm worried about. No, 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:22.200 I'm totally with you, Um, and I think that this 0:13:22.480 --> 0:13:27.880 nitty gritty part is straight ahead science, pretty easy, so 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:30.679 let's do it. Yes, but we have to say so. 0:13:30.840 --> 0:13:33.120 Ed helped us with this one. Ed doesn't menstright either, 0:13:33.200 --> 0:13:35.920 but he's a really good researcher too, and our hats 0:13:35.960 --> 0:13:38.760 off for really um kind of diving into this and 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.559 wrapping his head around it. But he he points out 0:13:42.600 --> 0:13:46.040 something that is not commonly seen, but I researched it 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:49.240 and it's it's I guess, the more clinical and medical 0:13:49.320 --> 0:13:51.880 you go, the deeper into it, the more it becomes 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:54.840 apparent that the menstrual cycle is actually what we think 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.320 of the menstrual cycle is actually a couple of different cycles. 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:00.600 And Ed did the clinical way and likely broke it 0:14:00.640 --> 0:14:05.240 out into these two different cycles that are happening simultaneously 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:08.960 into the same end. Right. So we're talking about the 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:13.800 ovarian cycle and the men and the menstrual cycle. And 0:14:14.360 --> 0:14:17.160 like I said, generally, like when you think about, you know, 0:14:17.600 --> 0:14:21.160 a period or something, you think about a week or 0:14:21.200 --> 0:14:23.920 so in someone's life, but it's really it's a four 0:14:23.960 --> 0:14:28.000 week cycle and each part is triggered by the release 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:31.080 of hormones and it's sort of always going on, and 0:14:31.120 --> 0:14:34.520 these two different cycles are sort of working with each 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:38.040 other to you know, to get ready to have a 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:41.840 baby basically. Yeah, And an easy way to remember it 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.160 or think about it that I kind of stumbled upon 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:48.040 is that the menstrual cycle gets the uterus ready for 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:51.920 an egg, and the um ovulation cycle gets the egg 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:56.920 ready for the uterus. What a beautiful dance, thank you. 0:14:56.920 --> 0:15:00.080 You know. Well, yeah, I think it's in credit to 0:15:00.200 --> 0:15:04.040 you that I was biology and nature. But sure, well 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:08.760 I consider myself God I created all. Uh. So in 0:15:08.800 --> 0:15:10.560 this case, we're gonna describe it. And I think ed 0:15:10.640 --> 0:15:12.400 does a is a does a good job of where 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.320 he places this in the cycle as a listener or 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.480 you know, in this case as readers. But we're gonna 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:22.720 start at the midpoint of the cycle, um, right after 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:26.240 the period has stopped. And at this point, like we 0:15:26.320 --> 0:15:29.640 said that the uterus, uh, the lining has been shed. 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:32.920 That would mean it's at its thinnest point at that point. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:35.480 And this is the beginning of what is known as 0:15:35.520 --> 0:15:41.040 the proliferative phase. Yeah, the proliferative phase of the menstrual cycle. 0:15:41.600 --> 0:15:44.840 UM is. The big star of that is a hormone 0:15:44.880 --> 0:15:50.760 called estrati all, which says, hey, endometrium, get a little thicker, 0:15:51.320 --> 0:15:54.520 um double in size. Let's um, how about we build 0:15:54.560 --> 0:15:58.320 some new arteries and blood vessels called spiral arteries. To 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:02.040 bring blood to all this new two issue that's being developed. UM. 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:07.120 New structures are are being built. The cervical mucus normally 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:10.320 kind of yeah or chill out, I think is a 0:16:10.360 --> 0:16:13.080 way to put it. UM. The cervical mucus usually has 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.080 a pH of two point eight to four point five 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.240 or sorry, three point eight to four point five, which 0:16:18.280 --> 0:16:22.280 is very acidic um. And the pH raises more towards neutral, 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:26.400 like around seven during this time, which makes the um 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.200 the uterus much more hospitable as sperm because sperm thrive 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:32.720 in about a seven pH they would die very quickly 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:36.280 in the normal acidity of the of the uterus. So 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.520 that's like this the process that's it's like the very 0:16:39.600 --> 0:16:44.560 beginning of the phase of prepping the uterus for an egg. 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.760 If it happens, that's right. Uh. And while this is happening, 0:16:47.840 --> 0:16:52.320 the ovarian cycle kicks in with a folicular phase. Um. 0:16:52.480 --> 0:16:55.560 There are two ovaries and they have hundreds and hundreds 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:58.720 of thousands of eggs within these little sacks called follicles, 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:03.200 and the hormones control all this, like we said, So 0:17:03.240 --> 0:17:06.920 in this case, it's a follicle stimulating hormone is gonna 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:10.879 allow a few follicles to mature, and eventually most of 0:17:10.920 --> 0:17:12.720 them will die off and then there will be one 0:17:12.880 --> 0:17:16.560 follicle left. Uh. That's in to rule them all, that's right, 0:17:16.600 --> 0:17:19.359 want to rule them all. And this last about ten 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:24.640 to fourteen days. Um, it's a little bit pre the proliferative. Man, 0:17:24.680 --> 0:17:28.119 it's such a hard word for me. Proliferative phase the 0:17:28.119 --> 0:17:30.800 menstrual cycle, and that's also about tend to fourteen days. 0:17:30.840 --> 0:17:32.600 So as you can see, it's all sort of kind 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:36.160 of sinking up. Yeah. I saw. The follicular phase actually 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:39.560 begins on day one of the menstrul phase, so it 0:17:39.720 --> 0:17:42.119 it has a couple up to maybe five or so 0:17:42.280 --> 0:17:46.160 days headstart on the proliferative phase. But the two work 0:17:46.200 --> 0:17:49.640 in conjunction. Right, eggs starting to get ready, the endometrium 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:51.520 or the use of the uterus is starting to get 0:17:51.560 --> 0:17:54.240 ready to that's right. Now. We move on to two 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:57.959 more fun phases with fun names, uh, the luteal phase 0:17:58.000 --> 0:18:00.359 in the case of the ovarian cycle, and then the 0:18:00.400 --> 0:18:05.720 secretory or secretory phase. I would say secretory me to uh. 0:18:05.760 --> 0:18:08.560 And that's part of the menstrual cycle. Yeah, and they 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:14.640 call um the secretory phase. Um. That because no there's 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:17.920 a lot of secretions going on. And this is when 0:18:17.960 --> 0:18:21.080 like those initial preparations that were begun in the proliferate 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:28.840 proliferateory phase, proliferative phase, all those preparations that were like 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:32.640 the very basic structure of the endometrium that was being 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:35.960 developed really starts to fill out. And I said, um, 0:18:36.040 --> 0:18:39.640 the womb is frequently referred to as being fluffy. At 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:44.000 this time, it's maybe doubled in size. It's much more 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:46.560 hospitable to an egg. And then the reason it's called 0:18:46.560 --> 0:18:50.280 the secretory phases. The chemicals that are being secreted are 0:18:50.320 --> 0:18:53.160 all sorts of like proteins and hormones and other things 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:57.399 that will sustain the carbohydrates too, that will sustain an egg. 0:18:57.680 --> 0:19:01.920 If fertilized egg shows up in your uterus, it's all 0:19:01.920 --> 0:19:06.000 sorts of secretions are being fed into your endometrium so 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.400 that the egg will be nourished as it grows into 0:19:08.400 --> 0:19:11.919 a little bouncing baby. That's right, uh, back to the 0:19:12.000 --> 0:19:14.920 luteal phase. At this point, the follicle is going to 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:17.720 rupture and this is called ovulation. It's when the egg 0:19:17.800 --> 0:19:21.280 is released and the egg travels down that fallopian tube 0:19:21.600 --> 0:19:27.399 towards the uterus, and if it becomes fertilized, it's you know, ideally, Uh, 0:19:27.440 --> 0:19:30.480 if everything goes right and the wide end of the 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:34.960 fallopian tube where it meets the uterus, you can also 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.679 undergo what's called an ep topic pregnancy. That's when it 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.040 implants on the outside of the uterus. Uh. Emily and 0:19:42.119 --> 0:19:44.879 I went through one of these with one of our miscarriages. 0:19:44.920 --> 0:19:47.639 That leads to a miscarriage. It's very very sad thing, 0:19:47.760 --> 0:19:51.480 but also quite common. Uh. At some point we should 0:19:51.480 --> 0:19:55.119 probably do a whole episode on miscarriages, because that is 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.280 something that people don't talk nearly enough about. Uh. And 0:19:59.320 --> 0:20:02.800 it happens like the time, and it's just not the 0:20:02.800 --> 0:20:04.800 sort of thing that people, you know, bring up with 0:20:04.840 --> 0:20:08.240 one another. But once it is brought up among friends 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.000 and family, more people start saying, Oh, yeah, I had one, 0:20:11.080 --> 0:20:14.080 I had to I had three. Uh. And it's all 0:20:14.160 --> 0:20:16.080 very sad stuff. So we'll cover that at some point. 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:18.560 But I wouldn't have the daughter I have now had 0:20:18.680 --> 0:20:22.440 our life not taken us in that direction. So I 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:25.280 can't imagine things any other way. You know. It's like 0:20:25.359 --> 0:20:28.680 Garth Brooks said, Chuck, some of God's greatest gifts are 0:20:28.800 --> 0:20:33.920 unanswered prayers. Are you sure that one? Chris Gaines Chris 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:38.000 Kaines covered that brook song even head spinning dose of 0:20:38.040 --> 0:20:41.720 postmodern irony. But at this point, if everything is going well, 0:20:41.760 --> 0:20:44.720 you have the egg again at the wide end of 0:20:44.760 --> 0:20:49.200 the fallopian tube. Yeah, so that's where it's fertilized. If 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:53.080 it's fertilized, it goes poop and falls into the uterus 0:20:53.359 --> 0:20:56.160 where it sticks to the endometrium and gets secreted all 0:20:56.240 --> 0:20:59.520 over and nourished and fed with lots of carbohydrates and proteins, 0:20:59.520 --> 0:21:02.400 and there's horn one's going berserk and the pregnancy begins. 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.840 That's if the egg is successfully fertilized. And we should 0:21:05.840 --> 0:21:08.719 say that ovulation phase is the shortest phase of this 0:21:08.760 --> 0:21:11.800 whole cycle. It lasts only twenty four hours. That's how 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.200 long you have for your egg to become fertilized into 0:21:15.280 --> 0:21:17.520 a blast assist is what they call it. It's a 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.440 very unromantic name for a fertilized egg, but that's that um. 0:21:22.400 --> 0:21:24.919 So you've got twenty four hours and if that doesn't happen, 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:29.280 the the luteal phase keeps going. So you've got that 0:21:29.280 --> 0:21:32.800 that follicle that the egg came out of that turns 0:21:32.840 --> 0:21:35.920 into like this kind of conductor that's conducting the symphony 0:21:35.960 --> 0:21:39.119 that's going on in your uterus, that's making it just 0:21:39.280 --> 0:21:41.960 more and more hospitable for a fertilized egg if it 0:21:42.000 --> 0:21:44.840 shows up. So the egg has twenty four hours, but 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.359 the lootal phase keeps going on well beyond that twenty 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.760 four hours. It doesn't know immediately that there's um there, 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:53.480 like the fertilized egg isn't coming, so it keeps preparing 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:55.560 for it as if it's going to for many days 0:21:55.600 --> 0:21:57.880 I think, um something like a week and a half 0:21:57.920 --> 0:22:01.520 the louteal phase lasts, and then if actually they realize 0:22:01.560 --> 0:22:04.119 that the fertilized egg isn't gonna show up, and so 0:22:04.200 --> 0:22:08.240 that follicle that's a conductor, it's putting out um progesterone 0:22:08.520 --> 0:22:12.040 suddenly just stops putting out progesterone, and all of a sudden, 0:22:12.200 --> 0:22:15.720 you have a huge imbalance between your progesterone levels and 0:22:15.760 --> 0:22:22.280 your estrogen levels, and it can make you extraordinarily irritable, sad, anxious, 0:22:22.320 --> 0:22:24.760 and a bunch of other stuff just a few days 0:22:25.000 --> 0:22:27.960 before your actual period starts. And that's what they call 0:22:28.320 --> 0:22:32.040 pre menstrual syndrome a K. A p MS. That's right. Uh, 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:35.240 it is a very normal thing to happen. Uh. This 0:22:35.320 --> 0:22:38.399 is something that we maybe could uh we could probably 0:22:38.400 --> 0:22:41.080 get a whole episode out of this. Uh. It can 0:22:41.119 --> 0:22:44.560 be very severe in some cases and be very disruptive 0:22:44.640 --> 0:22:48.240 in some cases. Uh. And and when that is the case, 0:22:48.280 --> 0:22:52.879 it's called pre menstrul dysphoric disorder. Uh. And it's funny, 0:22:53.359 --> 0:22:55.840 you know, Emily and I were talking about menstruation, you know, 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:59.360 because I was researching this, and she just got back 0:22:59.359 --> 0:23:03.840 from the doctor and they told her flax seed is 0:23:04.080 --> 0:23:08.239 uh can really aid with PMS symptoms. And you know 0:23:08.359 --> 0:23:11.000 it's like here we are. You know, she's cruising up 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:13.840 towards fifty years old, and it's you know, just learning 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:18.600 this stuff about flax seeds. So there's always room to learn, 0:23:18.720 --> 0:23:22.160 I guess, is what I'm saying. Um, you said that 0:23:23.359 --> 0:23:27.600 the progesterone and estrogen are gonna cease to be produced 0:23:27.600 --> 0:23:31.639 at this point, But what does happen is a substance 0:23:31.680 --> 0:23:36.960 called prostaglandin is gonna come along and it's gonna constrict 0:23:37.040 --> 0:23:41.240 all those spiral arteries that made those connections to get 0:23:41.320 --> 0:23:43.960 ready for you know, their big scene and that's going 0:23:44.000 --> 0:23:48.320 to cause them to tear themselves apart, and it's gonna basically, 0:23:48.359 --> 0:23:50.560 you're not gonna get the blood flow to the endometrium 0:23:50.640 --> 0:23:53.439 that you had going on, So it's gonna start breaking 0:23:53.520 --> 0:23:57.080 down away from the uterine wall. And so that that 0:23:57.320 --> 0:24:00.520 is the minsies, that is the menstruation, and that's what's happening. 0:24:00.600 --> 0:24:02.880 Is aos blood vessels, that's where the blood comes from, 0:24:03.400 --> 0:24:07.040