The Ovarian Cycle: understanding Luteal and Follicular Phase Posted: 09-23-06 04:41am
Luteal Phase Confusion
My cycles are 25-28, without fail. I have
lately been reading alot about luteal
phase, and I am quite confused.
Say I ovulate at 20 cd...(just an
example), and my period falls on the 28th,
why am I reading that this would be very
difficult to conceive? And for women who
do ovulate at this time, is it the same
every cycle? What brings about a short
luteal phase, and how can I test to see if
I have one?
An ovarian cycle has 2 phases: follicular
and luteal. During the follicular phase, a
follicle grows until it becomes mature
enough and can ovulate. During ovulation,
an egg-cell is expelled from the follicle
and enters the Fallopian tube. The
remaining follicle is transformed into a
yellow body (corpus luteum). The
follicular phase ends and the luteal phase
begins with ovulation. A yellow body
produces the hormone "progesterone", which
is necessary for preparing the endometrium
for implantation if the egg-cell becomes
fertilized. The yellow body has a
restricted lifetime. If there is no
conception and implantation, it lives for
about 14 days. After that time, it stops
producing progesterone and transforms into
a white body (corpus albicans). Lack of
progesterone and estrogen then causes
bleeding and desquamation of the
functional endometrium (menstruation). But
if conception and implantation occur, the
embryo produces human chorion gonadotropin
(hCG). hCG stimulates the corpus luteum
to function longer (2-3 months) . This is
called the yellow body of pregnancy
(corpus luteum gravidarum).
The luteal phase is constant in duration
(about 14 days) because the yellow body
lives during such time. The duration of
the whole cycle can vary in length due to
variations in the follicular phase.
Because the luteal phase is constant, we
can predict an ovulation date (about 14
days before the next period is due). This
prediction is possible only in women with
regular cycles.
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