In an earlier post, I mentioned
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) as a possible cause of infertility
in women. In this post, I'm going to go into a bit more detail about
the disorder, what it looks like and how it can be treated.
While its exact causes are not known,
most cases of PCOS can be attributed to an imbalance of hormones. In
addition to the usual female sex hormones, each woman's ovaries
release a small amount of androgens. In PCOS, tiny cysts build up,
causing the ovaries to produce more androgen than normal. As you can
imagine, the presence of excess male hormones keeps an egg from
forming properly and being released. No egg, no period. Or, irregular
periods. A disruption in your natural menstrual cycle can make it
more difficult to get pregnant. It affects women of childbearing age
from pretty much any ethnicity, although some ethnicities show fewer
symptoms than others.
I have a friend who was diagnosed with
this disorder several years ago, after having gone through test after
test, doctor after doctor until she finally found out what was wrong.
It's a good thing she found out when she did, because PCOS can lead
to issues such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes if not caught
early enough. So you won't have this problem, here are some of the
symptoms:
- New instances of irregular or infrequent periods. I say 'new instances' because some women have irregular periods from the beginning. Examples of problematic periods are having four months or longer between periods, having fewer than eight cycles a year and intervals longer than 35 days. Prolonged periods that are unusually light or heavy can also be a sign.
- 'Male' characteristics such as excess body hair and pattern baldness
- Acne as an adult (or, severe acne in teenagers), dandruff or excessively oily skin
- Obesity or excessive, unexplained weight gain. My friend had a major gain in weight, but she wrote it off as a side effect to one of her other medications. Now, she's not so sure.
- Sleep apnea (stopping breathing for short periods of time during sleep)
Since PCOS shares symptoms with so many
other problems, only your doctor would be able to accurately diagnose
you. While there isn't any sort of 'test', they'll usually do a
pelvic exam, blood sugar test, hormonal test and/or ultrasound. If
your doctor decides you have PCOS rather than another problem, she
may decide to treat you using medication or by recommending lifestyle
changes such as diet and exercise. Weight loss, be it from surgery
or from 'the usual ways', goes a long way in helping obese women
manage their symptoms. Sometimes your doctor might prescribe birth
control pills to help with the irregular cycles, but there are other
medications that can be used if you are trying to get pregnant.
While this is a very cursory bit of
information regarding PCOS, hopefully I've given you some food for
thought for your next doctor visit. If you do end up being diagnosed
with PCOS, here are some websites that can give you more information
and put you in touch with PCOS support groups.
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