McKenna's Pharmacology for Nursing, 2e

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P A R T 7  Drugs acting on the reproductive system

■■ Testosterone is responsible for the development of male sex characteristics. These characteristics can be maintained by the androgens from the adrenal gland once the body has undergone the changes of puberty. ■■ The human sexual response involves activation of the sympathetic nervous system to allow a four-phase response: stimulation, plateau, climax and resolution. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses helps you to study more effectively. Take a PrepU Practice Quiz to find out how you measure up! ONLINE RESOURCES An extensive range of additional resources to enhance teaching and learning and to facilitate understanding of this chapter may be found online at the text’s accompanying website, located on thePoint at http://thepoint.lww.com. These include Watch and Learn videos, Concepts in Action animations, journal articles, review questions, case studies, discussion topics and quizzes. Barrett, K. E. & Ganong, W. F. (2010). Ganong’s Review of Medical Physiology (23rd edn). New York: McGraw-Hill. Basson, R. (2007). Women’s sexual function and dysfunction. JAMA, 297, 895–897. Camacho, P. M., Gharib, H. & Sizemore, G. W. (Eds.). (2012) Evidence-based Endocrinology (3rd edn). Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Finlayson, A. & Sanders, S. (2007). (Eds.). Endocrine and Reproductive Systems (3rd edn). Edinburgh: Mosby. Fritz, M. A. & Speroff, L. (2010). Clinical Gynecologic Endocrinology and Infertility (8th edn) . Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Gardner, D. G., Greenspan, F. S. & Shoback, D. M. (Eds.). (2011). Basic and Clinical Endocrinology (9th edn). New York: McGraw-Hill. Guyton, A. & Hall, J. (2011). Textbook of Medical Physiology (12th edn) . Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier. Melmed, S., Polonsky, K. S., Larsen, P. R. & Kronenberg, H. M. (Eds.). (2011). Williams Textbook of Endocrinology (12th edn). Philadelphia: Elsevier Saunders. White, B. A. & Porterfield, S. P. (2013). Endocrine and Reproductive Physiology. Philadelphia: Elsevier Mosby. BIBLIOGRAPHY

KEY POINTS

■■ The human sexual response involves activation of the sympathetic nervous system to allow a four-phase response: stimulation, plateau, climax and resolution. ■■ Sexual stimulation and activity are a normal response and, in healthy individuals, are probably necessary for complete health of the body’s systems. ■■ Since activation of the sympathetic response is an integral part of the human sexual response, any disease process or drug therapy that interferes with the sympathetic response will alter the person’s ability to experience a sexual response. CHAPTER SUMMARY ■■ Male and female reproductive systems arise from the same fetal cells. The female ovaries store ova and produce the sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone; the male testes produce sperm and the sex hormone testosterone. ■■ The hypothalamus releases GnRH at puberty to stimulate the anterior pituitary release of FSH and LH, thus stimulating the production and release of the sex hormones. Levels are controlled by a series of negative feedback systems. ■■ Female sex hormones are released in a cyclical fashion. Release of an ovum for possible fertilisation is termed ovulation. The female hormones prepare the body for pregnancy, including maintenance of the pregnancy if fertilisation occurs. ■■ If pregnancy does not occur, the prepared inner lining of the uterus is sloughed off as menstruation in the menstrual cycle, so that the lining can be prepared again when ovulation reoccurs. ■■ Menopause in women and the male climacteric in men occur when the body no longer produces sex hormones; the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary respond by releasing increasing levels of GnRH, FSH and LH in an attempt to achieve higher levels of sex hormones. ■■ The testes produce sperm in the seminiferous tubules in response to FSH stimulation, and testosterone in the interstitial cells in response to LH stimulation.