Video Transcript
Which of the following statements
is not true about estrogens? (A) Estrogens stimulate the
development of female secondary sexual characteristics. (B) Estrogens are released from the
ovaries. (C) Estrogens regulate the
menstrual cycle. (D) Estrogens are androgens.
This question involves the female
sex hormone estrogen. In order to answer our question
correctly, we need to review the functions of estrogen in the body.
Estrogen is secreted by the
ovaries. Ovaries are sex organs specific to
females. But you might be surprised to learn
that estrogens are also produced in males. Estrogens have many effects on the
body, though we will focus on its influence on female sexual development for this
question.
When a female undergoes puberty,
the secretion of estrogens have many effects on sexual development. Specifically, estrogen is
implicated in the development of secondary sexual characteristics. You may recall that female
secondary sexual characteristics include the widening of the hips, development of
breasts, and the onset of the menstrual cycle. All of these effects prepare the
female body for pregnancy. Although the development of
secondary sexual characteristics eventually stops, estrogen is continuously released
to maintain the menstrual cycle in females. This only stops once a female
reaches menopause later in life.
Now that we’ve reviewed the
function of estrogens, we’re able to take a look at our question. We are looking for an answer choice
that is not true concerning estrogens. We can see that answer choices (A),
(B), and (C) are all true statements about estrogen, so these are incorrect.
Answer choice (D) is a false
statement regarding estrogen, because estrogens are not androgens. Androgens are another type of
hormone that play a primary role in male sexual development. Therefore, the correct answer
choice is (D): estrogens are androgens.
