MENSTRUATION
Menstruation is the process of discharging blood and other materials from the lining of the uterus in a mature, non-pregnant woman at the end of each menstrual cycle.

The purpose of the menstrual cycle is to prepare the uterus to receive a fertilized egg. Every month, one of the ovaries discharges an egg, which is carried along the fallopian tube to the uterus. It may remain in the fallopian tube for 24 - 48 hours and during this time, it may become fertilized.

In preparation for this monthly release of the egg, the tissue lining the womb––the endometrium, becomes thick and its blood supply increases. If the egg is not fertilized, the endometrium breaks down and blood loss occurs leading to menstruation (or the menses or period). Contractions of the muscles of the womb get rid of this tissue together with the unfertilized egg, if pregnancy does not occur. Sometimes the pain of these contractions is severe and it is known as dysmenorrhoea.

Menstrual bleeding usually lasts four to six days. Following this, the tissues are repaired. This is followed by the build up of the endometrium again. The whole menstrual cycle lasts about twenty-eight days. If fertilization of the egg occurs, leading to pregnancy, the woman’s periods stop until after the child is born. (Sometimes her periods may not begin again for a few months after the baby is born.)

Medical attention should be sought in the case where normal monthly menstrual bleeding has not occured for some months but there is no pregnancy or the likelihood of it. This is amenorrhoea.

The menstrual cycle begins at puberty and continues monthly until the woman is about forty five to fifty years old. At the age when menstruation ceases, the woman has the menopause.

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