By Marcos Otero, Gulf Coast Immediate Care Center, Fort Walton Beach, FL
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a condition affecting a women’s hormones. The elevated affected hormones increase the chance of facial hair, baldness, diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Menstrual periods become irregular and vary from non-existent to excessive. PCOS makes it difficult to get pregnant. Let’s review polycystic ovary syndrome.
PCOS is when multiple ovarian cysts form due to hormonal problems. It affects women in childbearing age 15-44 and causes irregular periods.
What causes it?
PCOS may be genetic as it runs in families. Insulin resistance, obesity, and inflammation are all factors that produced more male hormones. Increased male hormones reduce female hormones, creating a lack of ovulation, causing the cyst.
Common symptoms of PCOS:
- Irregular periods Missed or excessive periods.
- Heavy bleeding. The uterine endometrium lining builds up over a longer timeframe, so the periods you do get can be heavier than average.
- Hair growth. About 70 percent of women with this condition grow hair on their face and body. While also, hair on the scalp gets thinner and may fall out.
- Acne. Increased testosterone makes the skin oilier than usual and causes breakouts on the face, chest, and upper back.
- Obesity and Weight gain. Eighty percent of women with PCOS are obese.
- Darkening of the skin. Patches of thickened, velvety, darkened skin called acanthosis nigricans can form on the folds of the neck, the groin, and under the breasts.
- Infertility inability to get pregnant after twelve months of trying.
- Multiple small fluid-filled sacs in the ovaries.
Diagnosis:
Often the diagnosis is made when the patient presents with facial hair, obesity, infertility, diabetes, and irregular periods. Ultrasound is usually performed that confirms the diagnosis.
Treatment Includes:
PCOS treatment starts with lifestyle changes like diet and exercise. Losing just 5 to 10 percent of your body weight if you’re overweight can help improve your symptoms.
Birth control pills and the diabetes drug metformin can help bring back a normal menstrual cycle. Clomiphene and surgery improve fertility in women with PCOS. Hair removal medications can help women remove unwanted hair.
Summary:
- PCOS can disrupt a woman’s menstrual cycles and make it harder to get pregnant. High levels of male hormones also lead to unwanted symptoms like hair growth on the face and body.
- Lifestyle interventions are the first treatments doctors recommend for PCOS, and they often work well.
- Weight loss, diet, and aerobic exercise are two effective ways to lose weight and can improve PCOS symptoms and improve the odds of getting pregnant.
- Birth control pills and metformin can both restore more regular menstrual cycles and relieve PCOS symptoms.
- If your menstruation is irregular and you skip periods, visit your medical provider. Also, see them if you have the symptoms of PCOS or have had problems getting pregnant.
