Cells are the blocks that make up each part of our body and in general we can say that they are invisible or at least that we cannot see an individual cell because all our cells have microscopic proportions, however, all cells vary a little in size and the female egg is the only cell that can be seen with the naked eye since it can measure more than 100 micrometers wide, which is more or less the thickness of a hair. As we saw in the previous video, women are born with a certain number of eggs and do not produce more, but once the ovary begins to receive gonadotropins, these eggs are released one by one each month with the arrival of menstrual periods throughout fertile life. Periods usually last 28 days but they can vary, ideally they should never last more than 38 days or less than 21. To fully understand what happens during a period we must divide it into four phases or stages:

First phase, menstruation: Menstrual periods begin to be counted from the first day of the period. It does not matter if they only had light spotting and days later it was more abundant, they always begin to be counted from the first spotting. Menstruation usually lasts five days but can also vary a little and should never be longer than 10 days.

After menstruation comes the second stage or follicular phase: The ovaries are full of small follicles and inside each follicle there is an immature egg, during the follicular phase the follicle-stimulating hormone begins to stimulate the follicles and well… Yes from there Its name comes from it: Follicle-stimulating hormone, so that several follicles begin to mature but only one will fully develop. We call this the dominant follicle and it will be the only one in charge of releasing an egg. At the same time the follicles release another hormone called estradiol and the estradiol gives orders to the uterus or well specifically it gives orders to its inner layer or endometrium to begin to thicken.

Third stage, ovulatory phase: During all this time the ovaries have been releasing estrogens and when the pituitary gland perceives that the estrogen levels are very high, it begins to release the luteinizing hormone, this hormone reaches the dominant follicle and orders it to release the egg, this occurs about the middle of the menstrual cycle around day 14. Many people think that when the egg is released on its own it begins to swim or float towards the uterus but the truth is that no, the egg does not float, the fallopian tubes are full of small small hairs called cilia that bend in a back and forth motion to push the egg, usually it will take one or two days for the egg to reach the endometrium.

Fourth stage, luteal phase: This is the time that passes between ovulation and menstruation. We could think that the dominant follicle has already finished its work because it has already released the egg, but in reality it continues working, it becomes what we call the corpus luteum and is dedicated to manufacturing progesterone, this progesterone modifies the endometrium, we could say that it makes it more sticky. and receptive so that when the embryo arrives it remains implanted. If the embryo implants correctly, it begins to release Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) and this orders the uterus to stop the menstrual cycle, but if for some reason there is no fertilization or the embryo fails to implant, the cycle begins again when the The corpus luteum runs out of progesterone and the endometrium begins to fall off or peel off, returning to the first phase of menstruation.

If you are interested in knowing more, we invite you to read our article on the menstrual cycle and ovulation

Now let’s talk about sperm, we already said that the egg is the largest cell in the human body and you can’t guess which one is the smallest. You know, right? Well yes, they are the sperm. Compared to the ovum, a sperm is tiny, it measures only five micrometers wide and let us remember that the ovum measures 100 micrometers, well that is if we consider only the ovum as such but in addition the ovum is surrounded by the zona pellucida that measures about 20 micrometers and in Sometimes it can even be surrounded by cells of the cumulus ophorus so that if we see it in real scale this is what a sperm looks like trying to penetrate the egg. However, women release a single egg in each period while men produce millions of sperm. continuously every day and in a single ejaculation they can release about 100 million sperm.

Sperm are produced in the testicles and take around 90 days to mature. This maturation process is called spermatogenesis and once the sperm are mature they are stored in the epididymis, which is the small lump on top of each testicle. When there is some type of stimulation, the penis can become hard or erect and at the same time the epididymis begins to contract slightly and pushes the sperm, but the sperm do not pass directly to the penis. As we have already seen, the human body is full of messes and messes. The sperm then travel through the vas deferens, passing in front of the pelvic bone, surrounding the bladder and then down to the prostate. Here in the prostate they meet with the seminal fluid and it is worth mentioning that the sperm are actually semi-transparent and the seminal fluid is white, which is why even when a man undergoes a vasectomy, his semen continues to come out white, although it does not have sperm Ejaculation occurs when the prostate is strongly compressed and expels semen through the penis through the urethra. Now that we have roughly seen the function of the male and female reproductive organs, we are going to take the opportunity to answer some of the questions about the myths. most frequent there are.

1. If I haven’t had my period yet, can I get pregnant? Yes, it is possible because when the first menstruation arrives it means that a couple of weeks before the first egg was released and it did not implant, but if you had had intercourse during those fertile days, a pregnancy would have been possible before having the first menstruation.
2. If there was no ejaculation, can there be a pregnancy? The simple answer is yes, as long as there is a sexual relationship without a contraceptive method, there can be a pregnancy, it does not matter that the man has excellent hygiene and control of his body, there can always be residual semen in the vas deferens or in the urethra and they can be expelled. outside even without ejaculation, pregnancy is less likely but definitely possible.
3. If my period is late, does it mean I’m pregnant? This is a quite complex question and does not have a simple answer… In school we learn that the human body works perfectly but there are an infinite number of small alterations that can modify periods; It could be that you had a larger follicle than normal and then the corpus luteum produced progesterone for a longer time or it could be that the ovaries produced so little estradiol that the endometrium did not thicken at all. In extreme cases it could even be that you have anemia so severe that the endometer did not thicken and of course… It could also be that you are pregnant, if your period is delayed for more than five days it would be worth taking a pharmacy pregnancy test, it is worth mentioning once that we frequently receive patients who have positive pregnancy tests but their period comes again in a few weeks and they think that the pregnancy test was wrong and that they only had an irregular period but in reality it is most likely that they were pregnant but that the embryo could not develop well , was lost and menstruation arrived, in those cases it is worth starting to go to gynecological consultations to check what is happening.
4. Is it normal if the semen comes out transparent or if it comes out with lumps? Yes, it is normal for semen to be slightly transparent, as we already saw, the color does not come from sperm, it comes from seminal fluid and usually drinking a lot of milk or eating dairy products can help the body have more flavins, which is what gives it the white color to the semen, if the semen comes out too thick or with lumps it could be that you were very dehydrated at that time but if it happens constantly it is not normal it could be due to an infection or in some cases diabetes, it is also normal for it to be slightly yellowish especially if left to air dry it would become hard and yellow but if it has a deep yellow color from the moment it comes out it probably contains urine. Green spots may indicate infection, although semen can also turn green when taking certain dewormers. Red spots are definitely not normal and usually indicate that there is bleeding in an internal duct.
5. If I use tampons, do I lose my virginity? No, virginity is lost until the first sexual relationship. There is some confusion because at the entrance to the vagina there is a thin layer of skin called the hymen that partially covers the entrance, but if the vaginal lips themselves change in each woman, the variations in the hymen are even greater. It is not a perfect plug, it is just an obstruction to the passage, some have one perforation, others have two perforations, others have multiple perforations, there are also membrane types with one, two or several membranes and the thickness also varies greatly. In some cases with the first menstruation the hymen can tear, in others it is very thick and flexible so it may not break despite having intercourse, that is why having a hymen is not synonymous with virginity and we say that virginity is lost in both men and women. in women when they have the first sexual relationship.
6. Does the penis have a bone? No, the penis does not have a bone, the reason why it becomes hard is because inside it there are three corpora cavernosa that are like sponges that can fill with blood and when they expand they generate an erection, however, something that the penis has in common with bones is that they can fracture. If the penis is erect and receives a strong blow or is bent too forcefully, some of the corpora cavernosa or arteries inside the penis could rupture. This causes intense pain, inflammation, and it is best to go to the doctor immediately.
7. Is it bad to drink cold drinks during menstruation? Many people say that if you drink cold drinks during menstruation, your blood will harden and stay stuck forever inside the uterus, and this is not false, iced drinks can act as vasoconstrictors, that is, they cause the veins to and the arteries narrow slightly, especially on the face or skin, but this effect is minimal and temporary, and it does not affect the peeling of the endometrium, now, taking advantage of the fact that we are talking about blood vessels, we must be careful with aspirin and other medications because they act as vasodilators, so taking aspirin during menstruation can increase menstrual flow, remember never self-medicate.
8. Can I become sterile if I ejaculated too much? As we mentioned before, men produce new sperm constantly so no, you cannot become sterile by ejaculating too much. However, two things should be clarified here: The first is that when we do fertility studies we usually ask the man to consult with the doctor. At least three days without sexual activity because this way your semen sample will have a greater volume and more mature sperm, but three days is more than enough to have a good semen sample, spending more days without ejaculating is not going to improve the quality of the semen. semen and the second thing is that some people think that not ejaculating brings health benefits because your cosmic energy is conserved within you or anything like that… But the truth is that as we mentioned before: When you ejaculate the prostate is compressed with force and that is to say that the prostate is exercised and strengthened and that is one of the best ways to prevent prostate cancer, that is, in the long run it is healthier to ejaculate regularly.

And well… With that we conclude the first video of this series, we try to explain in an entertaining way everything about hormones and the arrival of puberty, however there are surely many outstanding doubts out there, please write all your questions in the comments we will try to answer them in future videos or in your own comment.

See you in the next video which will be about menstrual cycles and semen. Knowledge is success.

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