• Recognise that oogenesis results in the formation of a finite number of oocytes

oogenesis put simply is the production of an ovum and an ovum is a female reproductive cell.

the ovaries/female reproductive system does not contain stem cells and therefore you are born with a SET amount of ovums (eggs) usually born with approx 1 million then by puberty you have approximately 400,000. you lose about 650 per mentrual cycle and so it is constantly depleting until menopause where you have none left.

anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH):levels reflect the ovarian follicular reserve and therefore can be measured to assess ovarian ageing it will be highest in early years and decrease to none by menopause due to declining number of follicular reserve as each mentrual cycle passes.

• Recognise that oocytes exist in a state of suspended meiotic division until ovulation

yes?

• Explain the development, structure and endocrinology of and associated with small, medium and large follicles

Small medium and large follicles are stages of development to being a fully functional ready to be fertilized egg (ovum)

you start with a small follicle they are located in the ovarian cortex and are the most numerous in number of follicle at any one time (these are the type that a woman is born with). They secrete anti-Mullerian hormone (AMH) which is more abundant based on the number of follicles there are that are present and so we can denote that as time goes on the number of AMH will decrease as a woman comes closer to menopause as there will be less and less small follicles available until there are eventually none left by menopause age.

Medium follicles.

over the course of a woman’s life cohorts of small follicles will band together and slowly grow into medium follicles.