Polycystic ovaries has numerous symptoms and should be treated early.
BioBalance Healthcast episode 147 deals with polycystic ovaries. Polycystic ovaries is a genetically caused problem that some women suffer from. It does not happen because of something a woman does or lifestyle choice she makes, it happens because of a combination of genetic issues. However, there are lifestyle changes and medical treatments that can help stabilize a woman’s polycystic ovaries condition and help them live normal lives without the typical weight gain and other signs that usually develop over time usually in the late teens or early twenties.
If a woman has polycystic ovaries syndrome, or PCOS, and it is not diagnosed or treated, she can have one or all of the typical symptoms or any number of symptoms in between. A woman with PCS may have irregular periods with heavy flow, she may develop hair growth on her abdomen and around her nipples at the same time she develops male pattern thinning hair or baldness. Her weight will rapidly increase over less than a year, and fat will be concentrated around her abdomen, she will have classic pre-diabetic weight distribution and body shape. In all likelihood, she will be depressed and irritable from the hormone imbalance that accompanies this condition. She will often crave sugar and eat non-stop never feeling full. She will often walk around with a soda in her hand in order to get a sugar fix because her insulin system will be off. She often will develop a lump of fat tissue at the base of her neck. For an adolescent girl who has been developing normally to this point, this negative transformation over a few months is very destructive and depressing. These girls need to be diagnosed and treated as soon as possible. Effective treatment is available.
In this podcast we talk about how to identify young women with PCOS, and what the various treatment interventions are. Following the treatment protocol is a difficult and disciplined battle, but these young women can fight back against all of these symptoms and eventually regain health and lose weight. They will need to take birth control pills even if they don’t need to prevent pregnancy to suppress the abnormal functioning ovaries, and take spironolactone to decrease unwanted hair, and they must exercise and watch their food consumption with a carbohydrate restriction.
Some women with PCOS have trouble getting pregnant, but there are several very effective drugs to help them ovulate and get pregnant. Don’t count on PCOS as birth control because many women with it can get pregnant the same as women who do not have PCOS. If you have a daughter who is beginning to manifest some of these signs, have a conversation with her physician (pediatrician, family doctor or gynecologist) about the possibility of testing and treatment for PCOS.
