Corpus luteum

Looks like

A yellow body left where a follicle burst, lasting two weeks unless a pregnancy arrives.

What it does

Makes the progesterone that holds the womb lining ready.

Keeping it well

Nothing routine; it keeps an early pregnancy going until the placenta takes over at about ten weeks.

Related conditions

• Absent periods (amenorrhoea)
• Adrenal insufficiency (Addison's)
• Bone metastases and spinal cord compression
• Early puberty (precocious puberty)
• Ectopic pregnancy
• Endometriosis
• Female infertility
• Hereditary cancer syndromes (BRCA, Lynch)
• Hyperthyroidism & Graves' disease
• Hypothyroidism
• Menopause & perimenopause
• Mumps
• Ovarian cancer
• Ovarian cysts
• Ovarian torsion
• Pelvic inflammatory disease
• Polycystic ovary syndrome
• Postnatal depression
• Premature ovarian insufficiency
• Premenstrual syndrome and PMDD
• Turner syndrome
• Type 1 diabetes