PCOS Treatment

Polycystic ovarian syndrome is a set of symptoms related to an imbalance of hormones that can affect women and girls of reproductive age. It is defined and diagnosed by a combination of signs and symptoms of androgenic excess, ovarian dysfunction, and polycystic ovarian morphology on ultrasound.

RISK FACTORS

Four main risk factors have been implicated in the likelihood of developing PCOS.

• The most important is genetics. It has a genetic background.
• Secondly, eating a high-fat and high-sugar diet.
• Thirdly, unhealthy lifestyles, obesity and lack of exercise.
• Fourth environmental exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

COMPLICATIONS

In the long term, there is a higher chance of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, endometrial cancer, and ovarian cancer.

Anxiety and depression are significantly higher in these women.

During pregnancy, there are higher chances of developing diabetes and pregnancy-induced hypertension.

SYMPTOMS

The symptoms are mainly  irregular periods, excessive facial hair, balding, pimples, excessive weight gain and difficulty in conceiving

DIAGNOSIS

The diagnosis is made by using the Rotterdam criteria, TWO out of three must be present.

1. Clinical or biochemical evidence of excessive male hormones, the clinical evidence can be in the form of dark coarse hair on the face and body in a male-like pattern, balding, presence of excessive pimples and oily skin.

2. The second criterion includes the presence of ovarian dysfunction, which can be in the form of heavy menstrual bleeding, delayed periods or no periods at all.

3 Third is the presence of polycystic ovaries on ultrasound, which include 25 or more follicles, which are 2 to 10 mm in size on transvaginal ultrasound or increased ovarian volume,  more than 10 ml.

In addition, we need to exclude conditions that mimic polycystic ovarian disease.

TREATMENT

There is no permanent cure for PCOS but symptoms can be managed with lifestyle changes and medications.

The options include low-dose, low-androgen oral contraceptives, inositol supplements, metformin and ovulation induction medication if conceiving is difficult. Artificial reproductive technologies may also be required for infertility.

Hope this has helped you to understand better Understanding the disease process and helps you deal with the disease better.