PCOS For Dummies

Gaynor Bussell, Sharon Perkins

• Publisher: For Dummies
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781118098653
• eBook ISBN: 9781118127377
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: Diseases & Allergies

Practical advice and information for living with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is a condition in which there is an imbalance of a woman's female sex hormones, and affects an estimated 10% of all women. This hormone imbalance may cause changes in the menstrual cycle, acne, small cysts in the ovaries, difficulty conceiving, high blood pressure, and other problems. It is treatable, but not curable, and sufferers have to rely on themselves for the long-term management of their condition. If you're living with PCOS, this guide gives you the latest information concerning treatments and research into Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

PCOS For Dummies gives you a practical, plain-English guide to living with and managing Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. In addition to providing valuable information concerning the causes and symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, PCOS For Dummies gives you the facts about the various treatment options that are available, including both traditional medical treatments and alternative therapies.

• Discusses the causes and symptoms of PCOS
• Advice for dealing with this disorder
• Covers the treatments and medicine available in the United States

PCOS For Dummies is an invaluable resource for the millions who are suffering from this condition.

Part I

PCOS in a Nutshell

In this part . . .

This part gives you an overview of everything PCOS related and helps you identify whether you might have PCOS by listing all the symptoms.

In this part, you get some straight facts about your condition, how it plays out in your body, how it changes when you change (such as when you get older or heavier), and how you can start to tackle it.

Chapter 1

Sensible and Straightforward Solutions for a Difficult Condition

In This Chapter

Understanding PCOS and its symptoms

Taking the initial steps when you think you may have PCOS

Tackling PCOS through diet, exercise, and emotional well-being

Looking at treatment options

Working out what you can do to help yourself

This chapter is a great place to get on the right course if you suffer or suspect you suffer from PCOS, or if you have a friend, relative, or partner with the condition and you want a quick overview of the most important things you need to know about PCOS.

This chapter gives an overview of the entire book. In one chapter you get a feel for what PCOS really is and what its symptoms are. Just as important, you get an overview of treatments and lifestyle changes that are aimed at reducing the symptoms; many are things that you can do to help yourself.

Understanding PCOS

PCOS is the most common ovarian function disorder in pre-menopausal women. Yet, until recently, it was one of the least-understood conditions. Research into the causes and symptoms of PCOS has shown it to have consequences more far-reaching than the obvious physical symptoms; the long-term effects extend into menopause and beyond.

Defining the condition

According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, PCOS is defined as having any two of the following signs and symptoms:

Oligo-ovulation (irregular ovulation) or anovulation (a complete lack of ovulation)

Clinical or biochemical signs of high androgen (male hormone) levels

Polycystic ovaries, which means many small cysts on the ovaries (normal ovaries have five or six follicles, whereas polycystic ovaries have ten or more)

The hormones involved in controlling periods and, ultimately, reproduction, are produced in the pituitary gland, located in the brain. In women with PCOS, two of these hormones — luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) — are produced in abnormal proportions. The imbalance of these two hormones prevents the follicles in the ovary from developing properly: The follicles tend to remain small and don’t mature enough to release an egg. As a result, a string of small follicles, or cysts, form on the ovary, giving rise to the characteristic polycystic ovary that gives the disorder its name.

Polycystic ovaries alone are not enough to diagnose PCOS. If the symptoms of PCOS do develop, that marks the change from simply having symptom-free polycystic ovaries to having PCOS. Around 20 percent of women have polycystic ovaries but no symptoms of PCOS.

PCOS statistics

The rates of PCOS appear to be increasing. Increasing rates of PCOS are most likely to be related to the rise in obesity rates in the United States. Around 68 percent of all adults in the United States are now overweight or obese, and, even more alarming, 20 percent of children ages 6 to 11 and 18 percent of teens are overweight. The potential increase in overweight even in children could herald the development of even more women developing PCOS in the future.

Chew on these PCOS statistics for more on how this disorders affects women of nearly all ages:

Around 5 million American women have PCOS.

PCOS can start in girls as young as age 11.

About 5 percent to 10 percent of American women have PCOS.

It’s in the genes

Researchers in the United States studied 215 mothers of women with PCOS and compared them with mothers of women who didn’t have PCOS. Results showed that mothers of women with PCOS themselves had some of the symptoms of PCOS, including high cholesterol levels, insulin resistance, and other metabolic abnormalities associated with PCOS.

In addition, a high proportion of these mothers who had daughters with PCOS reported that they had had menstrual irregularities. Those mothers who had reported the menstrual problems had higher male hormone levels than those who hadn’t reported irregularities.

All this points to the fact that the mothers of daughters with PCOS had a much higher incidence of PCOS symptoms than mothers of non-PCOS daug...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Introduction
• Part I: PCOS in a Nutshell
• Part II: Taking Control of Your Symptoms
• Part III: Menstrual Cycles, Fertility, and Pregnancy
• Part IV: The Part of Tens
• Cheat Sheet