Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome: What, Why & How

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is such a prevalent gynecological condition that it is believed to affect nearly 10 out of every 100 women in the United States. Because PCOS creates a complication associated with ovulation, the gynecological condition affects women before menopause, during childbearing years. While the condition has some familial connections, it is not known the true origin of this gynecological complication so, for women suffering from PCOS, understanding the symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, and treatment options available, will provide women, of child bearing years, the opportunity to remedy fertility complications in many cases.

Because Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is characterized by absent or irregular menstrual cycles, women suffering from PCOS commonly experience fertility complications due to lack of ovulation. In most recent medical research, it has been shown that irregular hormone levels, produced by the ovaries, attributes to this irregular ovulation in addition to a secondary implication involving irregular blood glucose levels and poor insulin production.

Insulin, secreted by the pancreas, in women with PCOS, is generally found to be in excess on examination of blood testing. As a result, the female body naturally over compensates by producing androgens, also known as the male based hormones. When androgens are produced in women, ovulation is usually the first irregularity to be realized.

To treat Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in women with high levels of androgens, attributed to irregular hormone insulin production, gynecologists and endocrinologists are working together and applying the use of FDA approved anti-diabetic prescription medications. In doing so, women suffering from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome are finding some improvement in insulin regulation and, therefore, an improvement to ovary hormones, ovulation and PCOS, reducing the risks associated with infertility. So, how does a woman know if she suffers from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome?