The

Human
Reproductive
System
 Male Reproductive System
Vas
deferens
Seminal
vesicles

Prostate
gland
Cowpers
gland
Urethra
Penis

Teste Epididymi
Scrotum
 Male Reproductive System
 Pituitary gland influences important changes

 Testosterone causes the adolescent male to develop

secondary sex characteristics: deepening of the voice;
growth of facial and body hair; growth of the scrotum
and penis; rapid spurts of increase in height and
broadening of the chest and shoulders.
 Sperm production started and is continuous for the
rest of his life. Average production is 100 million daily
 “Wet dreams or nocturnal emissions” occasionally
occur when an “overflow” of sperm is ejaculated while
the male is asleep.
 Spontaneous erections occur, a normal part of
adolescence.
Male Fertility
 Men are always fertile.
– Nature awakens the boy to his fertility with his first wet dream “nocturnal
emissions.”
– At puberty the testicles produce sperm cells under the influence of the hormone
testosterone.
– A normally healthy man continues to produce sperm cells throughout his entire
life.
 The man’s reproductive component is in abundant supply.
- Approximately 50,000 new sperm cells are produced each minute, with as
many as 100M produced each day
- There are between 300M and 500M sperm cells in a normal ejaculation of
seminal fluid.
 Pregnancy could result with every act of intercourse.
Male Fertility continued…
 Approximately 300 million sperms are released during each ejaculation,
only about a hundred would actually survive the journey to the fertile
ovum.
 Out of the several sperm cells that arrive at the ovum and attempt to
penetrate the egg cell, only one would be admitted for fertilization.
 At the very moment that one sperm has succeeded in penetrating the cell
wall of the ovum, the chemical composition of the ovum changes, making
it instantaneously impervious to penetration by other sperms cells.
 It is the sperm that determines the sex of the new baby to be conceived.
Each sperm carries either an X- chromosome which results in a female
baby, or a Y-chromosome which results in a male.
Male Fertility continued…
 Threats to male fertility
– smoking
– drug or substance abuse
– chronic alcohol abuse
– use of anabolic steroids
– overly intense exercise
– chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers, radiation
– infections of reproductive system such as prostatitis, epididymitis,
orchitis
– trauma or injury to the testes
– certain jobs or work which exposes the scrotum to intense heat
– systemic diseases like diabetes mellitus, thyroid dysfunction
– certain drugs may cause erectile dysfunction like beta blocker
Male Fertility continued…
 Dealing with the threats to male fertility
– stop smoking, too much alcohol and the likes
– ease up on intense exercise
– stay clear of environmental poisons and hazards
– good nutrition
– keep scrotum cool
– abstain, but not too long
Female Reproductive System

Fallopian
Uterus tube

Uterine
lining

Cervix
Ovary
Vagin
a
 Female Reproductive System
 At Puberty, increase in the hormone estrogen causes the
development of secondary sex characteristics.
 At the start of each cycle, the pituitary gland in the woman’s brain
secretes follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) to signal or stimulate
the ovaries to ripen some egg follicles.
 Estrogen is secreted, causing the cervix to produce mucus. Added
estrogen also causes the lining of the uterus, called the
“endometrium,” to thicken,
 Pituitary gland then secretes Luteinising Hormone (LH) causing the
release of the ovum or egg cell from where it was developing in the
ovary.
 Ovum stays alive in this fertile state for only 12 to 24 hours. If it is
not fertilized after this time, it degenerates. The corpus luteum
degenerates within 10 to 16 days.
 The endometrium also degenerates, and detaches itself from the
uterus, to be expelled from the woman’s body as menstrual
bleeding.
 Estrogen and progesterone levels also go down
Female Fertility
 Women of reproductive age are at most times
infertile. Between puberty and menopause, a woman is only
fertile for just a few days at a time during each monthly cycle, when
her body releases an egg. The egg (ovum) matured and lives for
about a day.
– girls achieve reproductive capability earlier than boys,
on the average around age 12
– Woman’s fertility starts at puberty, with her first
menstrual period and ends at menopause.
Female Fertility continued…
 When a baby girl is born, her young ovaries already contain
approximately 400,000 immature eggs and follicles, only
around 400 of these eggs will ever mature

 The fertility cycle of a woman varies in length from below 24

days-short cycle, within 25-35 days-average cycle, to more
than 36 days-long cycle

 A woman has times of dryness and wetness, in each cycle

- A Dry times are infertile times
- Wet times are fertile times
- The time when the woman feels dry but is still wet is a fertile time
Female Fertility continued…
 The link between constant male fertility and
periodic female fertility is provided by the
role of the cervix
– Most of the time the cervix produces a thick mucus which
effectively seals the uterus from any outside contamination and
the woman observes dryness, or no mucus discharge
– The cervical crypts contain cells which are sensitive to the
fluctuation of the ovarian hormones over the course of the
menstrual cycle
– The crypt cells produce different types of mucus
– Approximately 100 cervical crypts line the cervical canal