PCOS: A disease of the body, not the ovary.
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, also known as PCOS, affects an estimated 5-10 percent of women of childbearing age and it is a leading cause of infertility. It is the most common endocrinopathy among reproductive age women. As many as 30 percent of women have some characteristics of the syndrome. PCOS is generally considered a syndrome rather than a disease (though it is sometimes called Polycystic Ovarian Disease or Stein-Leventhal Syndrome) because it manifests itself through a group of signs and symptoms that can occur in any combination, rather than having one known cause or presentation. The exact cause for PCOS is unknown. There are many symptoms of PCOS. Amenorrhea (no monthly period), anovulation (no ovulation), endometrial hyperplasia (excessive uterine lining due to infrequent menses), bleeding in-between or heavy periods, skin tags, cancer, hirsutism, infertility, acne, breast milk secretion, male-pattern hair loss and fat deposition, and weight gain are the majority of them. This paper will be focusing on the one symptom that affects the entire body, Insulin Resistance. .
Organ systems never function in isolation but are rather interconnected in a complex system of regulating feedback. Nowhere is this complexity more apparent than the endocrine system with its network of feedback loops. One of the chemical messengers traveling this system is insulin and as we learn more about hyperinsulinism, we see that insulin influence far more than glucose entry into the cell. In the area of sex hormones, insulin exerts a powerful influence, most notably in PCOS. The endocrine upset characterized by polycystic ovaries does not go away just because the ovaries are removed. It is possible that PCOS will worsen during the prime reproductive years, ages 20-40, especially with weight gain. It seems as women approach menopause that the severity of PCOS improves, as judged by hormonal parameters.
