O.+Reproductive+System

= Application = ===** Meagan- As an OTA, I may be responsible for providing information to clients when they ask about sexual activity. A patient may have had a hip replacement surgery and a question that they might have may have to do with sexual activity. It will be my responsibility to provide information, such as handouts or equipment, to the patient to assist them. As a female, I know how important it is to visit the gynecologist for a yearly PAP. This will confirm if there is something to be concerned with or show that the female is in good health. It is important for males and females to get an annual exam every year to ensure they are in good sexual and physical condition. **===

====Kalli - As an OTA student, it is important for us to teach our patients all that we can about the health and well-being of all individuals. For example, teaching our clients about the importance of keeping your body in check and getting yearly or monthly exams, tests, and procedures is important for all humans to remain healthy. Yearly exams for the reproduction system could keep our patients healthy and catch any sort of disease or cancer early in the diagnosis for a better chance at surviving. However, some diseases and cancers are not caught soon enough. Understanding the reproduction system can help us, as OTAs, explain the procedures, outcomes, and therapies to the clients and their families.==== = Content =
 * Christine- Teaching our patients the importance of annual exams is important especially for women. Although they are spreading things out farther, it use to be that women had to get an annual PAP exam once a year especially if the patient was on birth control. As a nurse it may be our responsibility to help the doctor with this exam. The doctor is making sure that the uterus, cervix and ovaries are healthy so that one day her female patient can be child bearing. It may also be the nurses responsibility to give the patient birth control if they decide to get the depo shot. This form of birth control is given as an injection in the buttocks every three months. **

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== The testes are composed of two compartments: the seminiferous tubules and the interstitial tissue. The seminiferous tubules are tubules within the testes that produce spermatozoa by meiotic division of their germinal epithelium. Interstitial tissue is a web of loose connective tissue between the tubules and contain the endocrine Leydig cells, which produce androgens mainly testosterone. == == The anterior pituitary gland secretes two gonadotropic hormones: follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinizing hormone (LH). FSH receptor proteins are located only in the seminiferous tubules. LH receptors are located in the Leydig cells. When the hypothalamus secretes gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH), it stimulates the anterior pituitary gland to secrete FSH and LH. When stimulated by LH, the Leydig cells secrete testosterone. ==

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In terms of the effects of pituitary gonadotropins on the ovarian follicles, the cycel can be described by the following phases:
== 1. follicular phase: lasts from day 1 to day 14, FSH stimulates the growth of follicles and the eventual formation of a mature follicle, FSH also stimulates the granulosa cells of the ovarian follicles to secrete an increasing amount of estradiol == == 2. ovulation: the rising tide of estradiol secretion has a positive feedback effect on the anterior pituitary, stimulating it to secrete a rapidly increasing amount of LH which occurs on day 13 and causes the graafian follicle to rupture on day 14, expelling the secondary oocyte in ovulation == == 3. luteal phase: following ovulation, LH stimulates the empty graafian follicle to become a corpus luteum, which secretes both estradiol and progesterone. Near the end of the nonfertile cycle, the corpus luteum dies and the levels of estradiol and progesterone fall rapidly. ==

3. The placenta performs functions essential for pregnacy.
== The placenta is the combination of the chorion frondosum (fetal tissue) and decidua basalis (maternal tissue). Under the chorion is the amnion, which surrounds the entire embryo. The embryo and its umbilical cord are located within the fluid-filled amniotic sac. Blood from the fetus is sent to the chorion frondosum of the placenta in 2 umbilical arteries and blood returns from the placenta to the fetus in a single umbilical vein. The blood that is sent to the placenta in the umbilical arteries is low in oxygen. Maternal arteries to the decidua basalis of the endometrium deliver oxygen to the pools of blood that surround the chorionic villi. The umbilical vein returns oxygenated blood to the fetus because of gas exchange. ==

== The placenta also performs detoxification functions converting many potentially harmful molecules into less toxic forms. The placenta also acts like two different endocrine glands by secreting sex steriods. The placenta hormones include estrogens, progesterone, chorionic gongadotropin (hCG), chorionic somatomammotropin (hCS), and placenta corticotrophin-releasing hormone (placental CRH). ==

== Durning parturition (childbirth) the placenta produces corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), which is the most important determinant of when parturition will occur. CRH stimulates ACTH secretion from the anterior pituitary, and thus cortisol secretion from the adrenal cortex in both the fetus and the mother. Cortisol then stimulates the placenta to secrete more CRH in a positive feedback loop. ==

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= Essential Question/ Case Study =


 * __ The Menstrual Cycle __**

The menstrual cycle in a women is a cycle that doesn't have a beginning or and ending but usually lasts around 28 days. During this cycle there are three phases:

1. __Follicular phase__- This phase is usually from day 1 to about day 14. During this time FSH (the follicle-stimulating hormone) stimulates the growth of the mature follicle. It also stimulates the granulosa cells to secrete estradiol( what we know as estrogen). 2. __Ovulation__- During this time there is a positive feedback due to the excretion of estradiol which stimulates LH to be secreted. Because of the positive feedback mechanism in our body there is a surge of LH around day 13 causing the mature follicle to expel the secondary oocyte by day 14. 3. __Luteal phase__- During this phase LH stimulates the mature follicle to become the corpus luteum. In return the corpus luteum excretes estadiol and progesterone. Once the corpus leteum dies these hormone levels will drop rapidly and the cycle will start over agian.

When there is a drop in the hormones during the end of the luteal phase and the start of the follicular phase is when we see the bleeding associated with the menstrual cycle. During this time the inner 2/3 of the stratum endometrium of the uterus is shed. The shedding can last from 3-7 days in a normal cycle.

__ The Ovarian Cycle __

Ovulation occurs when the egg is expelled from the ovary, to the fallopian tube, and finally to the uterus.

Before FSH stimulates a follicle there is a primary follicle that has a primary oocyte. During the menstrual cycle FSH stimulates the follicle to develop. This causes the cells to divide producing granulosa cells that surround the oocyte. These cells secrete estradiol during the monthly cycle. Some of the growing follicles develop vesicles as which point they are known as the secondary follicles. Then one of the secondary follicles continues to grow forming a single fluid-filled cavity which is finally the mature follicle. As the follicle continues to grow it's walls become thinner and the egg inside it is also maturing. While the change is made from the primary follicle to the secondary follicle the egg is also maturing. First the primary oocyte completes its first meiotic division. This produces 2 cell each with 23 chromosomes. However, the cells have unequal amounts of cytoplasm in them so the polar body or small cells degenerates leaving the secondary oocyte. The secondary oocyte then goes under meiosis until it freezes during the metaphase II. At this time the second oocyte is released from the mature follicle and then to the fallopian tube and uterus. If the oocyte is fertalized by the sperm the oocyte will complete meiosis. Again the cytoplasm will be unequal and the polar body will degenerate. Once the sperm and egg are joined the oocyte becomes a zygote. However, if the oocyte is not fertilized it will degenerate within 24 hours after ovulation. Once the mature follicle ruptures, LH stimulates it to become the corpus luteum which then secretes estadiol and progesterone.

All information taken from the //__Fundamentals of Human Physiology__//