All women have small amounts of male sex hormones, called androgens, but if you have PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), your ovaries produce a high amount of these hormones. Find out if this may be affecting your life.

This syndrome mostly affects women during their childbearing years and can make it more difficult to fall pregnant. Many women with PCOS do not know that they have the condition, but the presence of androgens can interfere with the female hormones (oestrogen and progesterone) that control the menstrual cycle. Experts estimate that as many as one in every ten women has the condition.

The exact cause of PCOS is not known, but many women with PCOS have insulin resistance – this is when your body has difficulty using the glucose from your blood to give it energy. In response, your body makes more insulin, and your blood sugar levels go up. This can lead to the development of metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes, and more than half of women with PCOS do develop diabetes by the age of 40. Diabetes can increase your risk for heart disease and of getting a stroke.

A syndrome is a group of symptoms which can occur together, which is why PCOS can be a complicated condition to diagnose. What also makes it difficult, is that not all women with PCOS have all the symptoms of it.

The symptoms of PCOS

Menstrual problems are not the only symptom of PCOS. A high level of androgens can cause any, or all, of the following in your body:

  • Small cysts (sacs of fluid) that form on the ovaries.
  • Weight gain, especially around your waist. Up to eighty percent of women with this condition can be overweight or obese.
  • Failure to ovulate (when a mature egg is released monthly from the ovaries). The body gets rid of an unfertilised egg – a process you will know as your period.
  • High blood pressure and high ‘bad’ cholesterol levels.
  • Problems with your period, which can either not happen at all, or be very irregular, or be very heavy and carry on for a long time.
  • Excessive hair on your face and elsewhere on your body. Sometimes it can also cause hair on the head to become thinner and to fall out.
  • Acne on the face, the chest and the upper back. Male hormones can cause the skin to be oilier, and this is the cause of the acne.
  • Pauses in breathing during the night, which can interrupt your sleep.
  • The darkening of patches on your skin and the development of skin tags, especially on the neck and under the armpits.
  • Depression and anxiety.

The causes of PCOS

Experts are not completely sure what causes PCOS, but it does seem to run in families, so the cause can be genetic. They are also not completely sure what the link is between being overweight and PCOS. Which one comes first? Because not all women with PCOS are overweight, and not all overweight women have PCOS.

Insulin resistance can also either be genetic, or lifestyle related. Inactivity and an unhealthy diet can contribute to the development of insulin resistance, which in turn can lead to PCOS.

Treatment and diagnosis

There is not one specific test that can be used to diagnose PCOS. Rather a doctor will look at all your symptoms and do some blood tests to measure your hormone levels, your blood sugar levels and your cholesterol levels. They can also do an ultrasound scan (where sound waves are used to look at tissues and organs on a computer screen) to check whether you have cysts on your ovaries.

Treatment for PCOS

If you are trying to fall pregnant, the doctor will give you medication to cause ovulation. 

If you do not plan to become pregnant, you can be given birth control pills, which will lower your androgen levels, control your menstrual cycles and reduce your acne.

Exercise and a healthy diet can help with weight loss, and help your body use insulin more efficiently, and lower your blood sugar levels.

Sometime doctors will prescribe diabetes medication, which will also lower your androgen levels and slow hair growth.

If you suspect you may have PCOS, make an appointment to see your doctor, and tell him/her about your symptoms.

Tell us: did you find this article helpful? 

Read about IBS here