Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome (PCOS) is an ovulation disorder and infertility that occurs in many women. Polycystic ovaries syndrome dates back to 1845 where it was described in a French manuscript as being “changes in the ovaries”. It was called “sclerocystic”. Polycystic ovaries syndrome is a problem that occurs in with the ovaries. A “polycystic ovary is characterized as being a tough, thickened, shiny white covering overlying a layer of many small cysts just under the ovarian surface. ” (Thatcher, 10).
That was the description that was found in the French manuscript and is still being used to this day for doctors to define polycystic ovaries. A wedge resection in the early 1900’s was the first form of treatment for this syndrome. PCOS involves more than just the ovaries filled with small cysts. Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome causes infertility in women. Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome can cause a number of symptoms. Its can cause everything from obesity to missed periods. It also causes women to have more of the male hormone in their bodies, which cause male hair growth.
Not all of PCOS patients have excessive hair growth some may have other skin conditions, like acne. PCOS is the one of the most notorious cause if missed menstrual cycles and “infertility due to the lack of ovulation”. (Thatcher, 12) There are three main reasons women with PCOS get medical attention. The first is that they have missed menstrual cycles. A woman’s period should not be light, short, or irregular. There are steps that a woman’s body needs to go through in order for women to become pregnant.
There is a normal menstrual cycle that a woman’s body hould go through and if it doesn’t then the women has an irregular cycle. This process the movement of an egg to a fertilizing position, developing a lining in the uterus, then the shedding of that lining when the egg doesn’t become fertilized. The second reason woman get medical attention for PCOS, is that they have worries about their physical appearances due to obesity, and excessive hair growth. This reason includes weight gain and abnormal hair growth.
Abnormal hair growth means that the hair grows in places that it would normally grow on men. This extra hair growth can be a bad thing for a woman’s self-esteem. Alopecia is also another form of hair loss that can occur. Alopecia is the female type of male pattern baldness. The way to reversing all these symptoms is balancing the female hormones. “Scalp massages and stimulating shampoos can help”. (Hammerly, 77) The third is that they have abnormalities in their metabolic systems. This reason included blood fat levels, insulin/glucose levels, and high blood pressures.
There are also other signs that women might get concerned with but may not contact a specialist about. Acne is one of these signs. A cyst is known as a fluid filled structure that is formed with a wall and a cavity. A cyst is like a balloon filled with water. A cyst can be all kinds of different sizes and shapes. The different type of wall covering around a cyst is what categorizes them or the different types of fluid that a cyst contains. The cysts that are form when a woman has PCOS are small cysts that are never cancerous.
These cysts that cause PCOS produce male hormones more than they produce the female ones. There are three ways that a doctor can diagnose PCOS in their patients. These ways are one in the clinical findings, another in the laboratory testing, and the final way is in the ultrasound scan. The clinical findings are when you the patient and your doctor confirm the menstrual disturbances, hair and skin problems, and obesity. The laboratory testings are when the doctor has you under go certain tests The uses of genetics in the blame of PCOS are difficult to study.
There are many reasons why genetics are very complicated to study. These reasons are listed below. (Thatcher, 44) “Lack of a universally accepted diagnosis of PCOS Outward appearance (phenotype) can be vastly different despite similar genetic constitutions (genotype). PCOS patients often come from small families with a limited number of sisters and brothers (sibs) to compare. We are not sure what PCOS looks like in the male. There has been no specific genetic marker for PCOS.
Problems in collection of family histories. Males can pass the PCOS gene down through there families just as much as a female can pass it on. There are some males that are more hairy than other males; these males have been shown to carry the PCOS gene. Studies also show that males that carry the PCOS gene are more likely to have a lowered sperm count. It is also mentioned that the males of PCOS are insulin resistant. Miscarriages happen more often among women that have PCOS. Miscarriages happen due to hormonal imbalance but when an altered hormonal environment makes the risk of a miscarriage more likely to occur.
PCOS causes poor egg quality and that is the major reason of pregnancy loss. If a women ovulates passed day 14 then they are more than likely to have ovulated a defective egg, which means that they will probably not become pregnant. The last reason women may have a miscarriage is PCOS itself. When diagnosed with PCOS a woman must change her life and start trying to control it. There are ways that she can do this. She can establish new habits in the way she eats by creating a new diet to follow. She can start some type of exercising to aid in the control or the loss of weight.
These are the first steps to take in losing weight due to PCOS. A person with PCOS must be serious about wanting to help control it. As a person living with PCOS, I can say that it is something that can happen to you. I was just recently diagnosed with Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome in the summer of 2004. I was worried about not having a menstrual cycle. My gynecologist performed a vaginal ultrasound on me and found that my ovaries had tiny little cysts all over them. I want to become pregnant so my doctor prescribed fertility medicine to me in order to try and regulate my periods.
If I did not want to have a child then he would have prescribed some type of birth control pill to aid in this process of regulating my cycle. The little cysts form when my egg comes out and does not go any further than the outside of my ovary. My egg latches on to my ovary and forms into a cyst. This is what caused me irregular menstrual cycles. I am currently overweight and trying to get it under control by exercising and dieting. PCOS is something that is common among a lot of women and it can happen to anyone even the healthiest woman.
