Part 1 of Essay
Puberty - The arrival of the monthly “friend”. The principle sign that a girl has become sexually mature and is capable of reproduction is the onset of menstruation, a period of cyclic bleeding from the vagina. (Smith 1997, pg 217) This is one of the key physiological functions of the female body. An ovarian, or estrus, c ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... starts as soon as menstrual bleeding from the previous cycle has ended. The anterior pituitary produces large amounts of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and a small amount of luteinizing hormone (LH). Under the influence of FSH, an ovarian follicle begins to mature and produces, in turn, increasingly higher levels of estrogens. In response to estrogen stimulation, the uterine lining thickens with increased numbers of blood vessels and uterine glands. In the ovulation phase at midcycle, the ovum is released as ....