Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is a major cause of infertility. This condition is also known as polycystic ovaries, Sclerocystic Ovarian Disease, Stein-Leventhal Syndrome, Chronic Anovulatory Syndrome and Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD).
It is the most common female endocrine (hormonal) disorder and is characterized by multiple abnormal ovarian cysts.
Symptoms of obesity-linked PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) can vary widely from woman to woman, ranging from being a cause of infertility to excess weight gain or obesity. They can also include Hirsutism (excessive facial or body hair), Alopecia (male pattern hair loss), acne, skin tags, Acanthosis Nigricans (brown skin patches), high cholesterol levels, exhaustion or lack of mental alertness, decreased sex drive and excess male hormones like testosterone.
PCOS patients were once dismissed as "fat" women with no self control. Obesity has a profound effect on the clinical manifestation of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a disorder affecting 20-25% of white European women and up to 50% of women in the UK from South Asia. About 50% of women with PCOS are overweight, and this increase in body weight has a major influence on the symptoms of PCOS and fertility.
The prevalence of PCOS appears to be rising because of the current epidemic of obesity. PCOS accounts for 90-95% of women who attend infertility clinics with anovulation. Some of the symptoms such as unwanted facial and bodily hair, acne, obesity and infertility have profound effects on the quality of life for these women.
There are a number of interlinking factors that affect expression of the syndrome. A gain in weight is associated with a worsening of symptoms, whilst weight loss will improve the disease profile and its symptoms. The main clinical features are menstrual cycle disturbance and an increase in male hormones (hyperandrogenism). Several studies have shown that weight loss in women with PCOS improves the endocrine profile, menstrual cyclicity, rate of ovulation and likelihood of a healthy pregnancy.
In Western nations where obesity is increasing, there is going to be an infertility crisis. A new study published in the medical journal The Lancet suggests that obesity is closely linked to PCOS, or polycystic ovarian syndrome. Right now, PCOS is a leading cause of female infertility that affects 1 in 15 women around the world. The research suggests that if obesity continues to rise, infertility caused by PCOS will rise along with it.
While weight loss in general has been shown to be of benefit to this condition, the use of a VLCD, resulting in weight loss has been shown to greatly reduce the symptoms of Obesity related PCOS; this may well be because of an increase of available micro nutrients and amino acids, combined with much higher levels of water consumption.