-Pratyushee Ghosh, Amity University Kolkata
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the primary causes of infertility. Additionally, increases the risk of metabolic syndrome, diabetes type 2, and endometrial carcinoma for women at the reproductive stage. A majority of girls with PCOS have an above-average body mass index (BMI), insulin resistance (IR), and also PCOS symptoms. The typical PCOS symptoms include ovarian cysts, male pattern baldness, acne, and hirsutism.
Several women who have PCOS are indeed overweight or obese. And it is also true that obesity can make PCOS symptoms worse. However, PCOS doesn’t discriminate and may affect women of all shapes and sizes. By assuming PCOS only affects overweight women, thin women with the disease might be misdiagnosed. On contrary, overweight women are more likely to be diagnosed with PCOS, when their symptoms are caused by something else.
Obesity is probably not the reason behind PCOS, around the globe, most women with PCOS are of normal weight. The link between weight and PCOS should do with the body’s inability to use insulin properly. This insulin resistance results in weight gain.
Studies have shown that the amount of β-endorphins is significantly higher in lean patients with PCOS than in lean controls. Moreover, β-endorphins levels were found to be correlated with other hormonal parameters. Concerning this, β-endorphins may play a task in polycystic ovary syndrome pathophysiology.
The type of personality and emotional disorders in lean PCOS patients may result in the activation of the brain circuitry. That involves activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis and disturbances in the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovary (HPO) axis. The results suggest the participation of primary hypothalamic dysfunction within the pathogenesis of PCOS in patients with a specific phenotype. Ghrelin could be a hormone that will affect the symptoms of PCOS in lean patients. Psychological therapy should be considered as a permanent element within the therapeutic plan provided to PCOS patients.
That’s why getting in the habit of eating healthy and exercising regularly is recommended. This healthy lifestyle is considered a part of most women’s treatment plan.
By separating fact from myth, you’ll empower yourself to measure an entire, healthy life with PCOS.
REFERENCE
- M Kiałka, T Milewicz, M Spałkowska, et al.; β-endorphins Plasma Level is Higher in Lean Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) Women; 2016; Experimental and Clinical Endocrinology & Diabetes; DOI: http://10.1055/s-0035-1564094
- Hanna Komarowska, Adam Stangierski, Izabela Warmuz-Stangierska, et al.; Differences in the psychological and hormonal presentation of lean and obese patients with polycystic ovary syndrome; 2013; Neuroendocrinology Letters; Vol: 34(7):669-74; URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24464003/
So informative!! I hope this helps many people out there????????
❤️❤️????