Understanding Polycystic Ovary Syndrome
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Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age. PCOS may cause:
- Your menstrual periods to be longer than normal
- Your periods to occur less often than normal
- An excess of the male hormone androgen
- Your ovaries to release eggs on an irregular basis
Although there is no cure for PCOS, it is treatable. Ruby Shrestha, MD, explains:
Click play to watch the video or read video transcript.
There is no cure for polycystic ovarian syndrome that we know of, but if the obesity is the cause, then, yes. You know, losing weight can actually regress it back to normal. So, there's that, but other than that not really a cure for polycystic ovarian syndrome. What we actually do is we take care of the symptoms pretty much. If the increased male hormone is the issue, then you treat that with medication. If period being irregular is the issue, then we treat that with the medication. Or if the other thing is if you ... lifestyle changes, eating healthy, exercise. Those can actually help to cure, I would say. Or to make it better, improve the symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome. But there's no exact cure for polycystic ovarian syndrome.
She also explains why PCOS may decrease your ability to get pregnant.
Click play to watch the video or read video transcript.
So for the infertile lady, what we do is there are ... You have to realize that these patients are not ovulating all the time, right? You are supposed to ovulate once a month, you know, eggs come out, and it's like the body is trying to get pregnant every month. But people with polycystic ovarian syndrome they're not ovulating all the time. So, that's the problem. That's where the infertile lady come in. However, you have to realize they do ovulate every once in a while, so they do need actually protection with birth control if they do not want to get pregnant. However, if they're trying and not getting pregnant, then yes, there are some ovulation induction agents we can use to help them get pregnant.
Learn more about how PCOS affects female fertility.
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Source: Ruby Shrestha, MD, Lifestages Centers for Women
