10 Surprising Facts About the Menstrual Cycle

The ovum is the largest cell in the human body. With a size between 0.1 and 0.14 mm, which is about the size of a grain of sand, it can be seen with the naked eye. In addition, an egg cell is 30 times larger than a sperm in terms of volume.

Unlike men, who produce sperm throughout their lives, women have a certain supply of eggs at birth. At birth, a newborn baby has about 1 million ova. However, this number will decrease over time. When a girl gets her first period (puberty), she has only about 15,000 ova. Since about ten follicles mature per cycle and only one egg eventually matures and is released, a woman has about 400 fertilizable ova throughout her life. This supply diminishes over the years. After the age of 35, this decline even accelerates. When the supply is exhausted, menopause occurs. This phenomenon is therefore closely related to fertility potential.

Some countries have a special regulation in the labor law: Menstrual leave, which is a few days a month when a woman gets time off during menstruation. Asia is a pioneer in this area. Japan, Taiwan and South Korea in particular have introduced menstruation leave. In practice, however, only a few people take advantage of this leave.

Depending on the week of the menstrual cycle, the appearance of the skin differs. This is because the skin changes under the influence of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which fluctuate during the cycle. For example, in the period before ovulation, your skin naturally glows more. Looking at it this way, your skin would be more beautiful, your voice would be softer, and your body odor would be more attractive as the fertile time approaches. Typology has developed 4 periodic serums tailored to each of the 4 weeks of the menstrual cycle, taking into account the changes in the skin.

The etymology of the term "menstruation" is derived from the Latin "mensis" for month. This term is closely related to the Greek "mene" for "moon". In this sense, we can assume that the people of antiquity imagined a connection between the lunar cycle and the menstrual cycle. Both cycles last on average 29 and 28 days respectively.

The hypothesis that people living in shared housing synchronize their menstrual cycles is debated in the scientific community. This phenomenon, also called the McClintock effect, has been proven by some studies and falsified by others. Possibly this belief stems from the fact that 2 people share at least one day of their period with a probability of 32%.

On Earth, humans share this physiological trait (menstruation) with some animal species, such as primates, some bats, and the proboscis shrew (a small insectivorous animal). In most mammals, however, the mucous membranes are not shed but regress naturally.