PCOS. What Is It?

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, is a condition that is seen with increasing frequency. PCOS affects about 6% of women and can occur at any age before menopause. It can often go undiagnosed for months, because its symptoms overlap with so many other women’s health concerns. It is also the most common cause of infertility among women in the US. It usually goes hand-in-hand with insulin resistance.

PCOS is often temporary. Who gets PCOS? It is seen in:

• girls going through puberty (when their ovaries are trying to set a regular menstrual pattern)
• women during the transition years of perimenopause

PCOS responds extremely well to a program of natural support that restores hormonal balance, especially with the dietary changes recommend for women with insulin resistance.

What is PCOS?

Understanding PCOS is easier if one tries to picture what goes on inside the ovaries every month.

Each month the ovaries begin to ripen a number of follicles. When we ovulate, the egg in the dominant follicle pops out and is captured in the fallopian tube on its way to the uterus. In PCOS, the egg is not released due to a series of changes that take place in the ovaries and in the normal hormonal pathways. There is no one reason for how these changes take place. There are lots of theories about PCOS being proposed, but the end result is the same: no ovulation and no resulting pregnancy or period.

What Are Polycystic Ovaries?

When ovaries become polycystic they create a lot of follicles. Some say they look like a pearl necklace on the ovaries. No one follicle becomes dominant and ovulation can’t occur. For the most part, these multiple ovarian cysts are not dangerous in themselves. However, they do bring with them uncomfortable side effects. Because a woman with PCOS doesn’t ovulate, her natural sequence of hormonal events gets interrupted, her levels of estrogen and androgens (testosterone and DHEA) remain high, and her body reacts with symptoms.

What are the symptoms of PCOS?

The most common symptoms of PCOS are:

• irregular or absent periods
• infertility
• increased hair growth
• unusual weight gain, even with dieting or increased exercise

Women with PCOS will often go for months without a period and then start bleeding heavily for days. This occurs when the uterine lining has gotten too thick and the body must naturally shed it. Because PCOS disrupts ovulation it can be very difficult to become pregnant.

Other signs of PCOS include:

• acne
• high blood pressure
• obesity
• abnormal facial and body hair growth (due to too much testosterone)

One of the less recognizable symptoms of PCOS is depression. While depression happens for many reasons, it is always a good idea to consider PCOS if you have other PCOS symptoms. In some cases antidepressants are prescribed which do not alleviate the underlying issues and therefore are not very helpful.

PCOS and insulin resistance

Another telltale symptom of PCOS is steady, significant weight gain - even with reduced caloric intake. Some women say they’re gaining weight no matter what they do. It’s not unusual for women with PCOS to say they’ve recently gained 60 or more pounds in less than a year, despite dieting all the time and exercise. This weight usually accumulates around their middle. Why do women with PCOS gain weight at such alarming rates? The research is showing that PCOS is strongly linked with insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is a condition some people get by eating too many carbohydrates and leads to sustained high levels of insulin in the bloodstream. It is possible that this extra insulin hitches onto the receptors lining the ovary and stimulates cyst production. This is an issue that should be monitored because women with insulin resistance have a much higher risk of developing other serious health problems, like diabetes and heart disease. In fact, if you’re headed down the path to PCOS, what that means is that you’re now getting into the category of metabolic syndrome. This is a category you want to get out of as fast as you can, because with all the damaging inflammatory processes going on with this syndrome there is potential for serious problems down the road.

Another interesting consideration for some is that while many people think of PCOS as a condition that only affects women who are overweight. Though not often, from time to time thin women are afflicted with insulin resistance and PCOS.

On the bright side, women with insulin resistance and PCOS respond very well to:

• modifications in their diet
• adding nutritional support in the form of soy and other functional foods
• multivitamins, minerals (Do you have a way to tell if the supplement (vitamin) that you’re using is being absorbed & assimilated?)
  
• omega-3’s
• Inositol may be important for PCOS women for at least three reasons:
  1. It may aid insulin action and thus reduce insulin resistance.
  2. It may help to relieve depression, which is common in polycystic ovary syndrome.
  3. It helps your liver to metabolize fat.
• beginning an exercise program.

What is the treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome?

Traditionally, doctors have overlooked PCOS unless it is diagnosed relative to infertility or irregular bleeding. If diagnosed, it was and often still is commonly treated with birth control pills. The Pill lessens the symptoms of PCOS by short-circuiting ovulation and giving the ovaries a rest. This is always an option for women looking to avoid pregnancy. Testosterone levels will go down on the Pill, and it is good for regulating cycles but it won’t address the basic issue of insulin resistance. Some doctors are now prescribing a diabetes drug called metformin (Glucophage), for blood sugar control, but if a woman with PCOS doesn’t change some of her lifestyle choices - such as following a low glycemic-load diet - her ovaries become polycystic again when she goes off either type of pill.

An inclusive treatment of PCOS with a combination approach helps women reduce their polycystic ovaries through:

1. nutritional supplements:
   
   • Multivitamin/Mineral
   • Essential Fatty Acids
   • Calcium/Magnesium
   In combination, these supplements work together to support both a healthy metabolism and hormonal balance in perimenopausal and menopausal women.
2. Inositol may be important for PCOS women for at least three reasons:
   1. It may aid insulin action and thus reduce insulin resistance.
   2. It may help to relieve depression, which is common in polycystic ovary syndrome.
   It helps your liver to metabolize fat.
3. gentle endocrine support
   Look for a formulas that addresses the ten most common symptoms of hormonal imbalance experienced women and uses the latest research on phytotherapy (herbal medicine) to promote hormonal balance providing natural, gentle and holistic relief for the three key hormones that fluctuate during menopause: estrogen, testosterone and progesterone.
   • Black Cohosh, Soy Isoflavones and Flaxseed, and a phytoestrogen blend of dong quai, red clover and licorice form a powerful and synergistic isoflavone complex which diminishes symptoms associated with estrogen deficiency like hot flashes and night sweats.
   • Flavonoid Blend from botanicals that have been used by traditional cultures to treat symptoms like irritability, anxiety, and insomnia. Recent studies show that the flavonoids in these herbs may mimic the actions of progesterone.
   • Ashwagandha is an Ayurvedic herb known as an adaptogen with aphrodisiac and mood-stabilizing properties. Recent studies suggest it activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, increasing the production of androgens.
4. enriched nutrition
5. regular exercise

Here's a good site for more information about PCOS and natural approaches to treating PCOS.