What is PCOS and can it be cured?
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is a common problem in women. In fact, it’s the most common hormonal issue facing women between about 12 and 51 years old.
PCOS symptoms
PCOS is a wide term that describes many different things. It sometimes causes cysts on your ovaries. It sometimes causes an overgrowth of the adrenal hormone, which should occur in women in small amounts.
When a woman has small cysts on her ovaries, her body produces more androgens – the hormone that regulates male traits. When her body produces more androgens, ovulation doesn’t occur as it should. When ovulation doesn’t occur as it should, her menstrual cycles are irregular.
Symptoms of PCOS can greatly interfere with quality of life. Some of those most common symptoms include:
- Irregular periods
- Acne
- Excessive hair growth
- Diabetes or insulin resistance
- Weight gain or struggling losing weight
- Struggling to get pregnant
- Periods can be irregular in many ways.
Sometimes women have periods that last a long time – even weeks at a time. Sometimes they have short periods. Sometimes their period shows up only a week after ending their last period. And some women don’t have periods at all.
Types of PCOS
PCOS has a wide range of causes and symptoms, so it’s hard to capture it all in easy categories. There aren’t really “types” of PCOS. But it affects women in these ways.
Insulin resistance PCOS
Insulin resistance occurs in at least 70% of women with PCOS. Elevated insulin levels cause hormone levels to rise. This is because higher insulin levels cause the body to produce more hormones to make up for it. Many women with PCOS struggle to maintain blood sugar or have diabetes
Adrenal PCOS
This type of PCOS occurs when stress levels on the body are high. Sometimes stress can cause androgen to increase.
Inflammatory PCOS
PCOS often goes hand in hand with inflammation. It may cause your body to have elevated hormone levels that affect your immune and inflammation response. Studies show that women with PCOS have higher CRP levels, which is a protein made in the live that responds to inflammation. This can cause things like chronic inflammation, which can lead to muscle and joint pain.
Post-pill PCOS
Post-pill PCOS can happen when you stop taking birth control pills. For some women, their providers prescribe birth control for PCOS to help regulate periods.
However, this doesn’t treat the underlying issue causing irregular periods. So, if you’re experiencing post-pill PCOS, you likely had the condition before going on an oral contraceptive.
When you go off the pill, symptoms return because the pill doesn’t treat PCOS. Knowing what type of PCOS you have may help to identify what treatment will work best for you.
