Women living with PCOS often experience irregular periods, bloating and excess hair growth. They may also struggle with getting pregnant or losing weight.
PCOS affects 1 in 10 women of childbearing age and can be associated with insulin resistance and elevated testosterone levels, both linked to increased male hormone production.
Symptoms
Do you experience irregular periods, difficulty losing weight or excessive hair growth on your body? PCOS could be the cause. A common hormonal disorder affecting one in 10 females and leading to infertility, it’s difficult to diagnose as everyone’s experience can vary and many other health conditions could produce similar symptoms as PCOS.
PCOS symptoms are due to elevated insulin and testosterone levels, leading to cysts on the ovaries and an irregular menstrual cycle, difficulty getting pregnant, acne breakouts and thinning hair on the scalp. Left untreated, it can also increase risk for obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes as well as lead to obesity, heart attack and type 2 diabetes if left untreated; its association with blood triglycerides increases your risk for heart disease – you can reduce them by eating more healthy fats such as avocado and taking omega 3 fatty acid supplements such as fish oil capsules.
Your doctor will start by gathering details about your symptoms and medical history before conducting a physical examination – including pelvic examination – followed by blood tests to measure hormone levels. They might also perform an ultrasound of your ovaries in order to look for cysts or thickened endometrial hyperplasia (ENH).
Your doctor might conduct blood tests to monitor how your liver is working, which is particularly crucial since excess insulin from PCOS can build up in it and buildup can increase heart disease risks. Your cholesterol profile might also include checking different types of fats in your blood – this may increase risks due to out of range lipid results in PCOS, increasing risks. They might also perform pregnancy tests due to cysts interfering with ovulation; pregnancy tests detect human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG).
Causes
Women suffering from PCOS often develop acne on their faces or bodies, gain weight quickly, have irregular periods, difficulty becoming pregnant and notice hair growth on either their back or head. PCOS causes their ovaries to produce high levels of androgens and insulin hormones which in turn result in this hair growth.
PCOS affects female reproductive system by preventing ovulation and disrupting menstruation cycles, and also producing cysts on ovaries (partially formed egg follicles that fail to mature or release eggs). While its exact cause remains unknown, genetics, family history and lifestyle factors all play an important role.
Doctors can identify symptoms of PCOS with physical examination and blood tests. A pelvic ultrasound allows your physician to observe how your ovaries and womb lining appear; it may even detect cysts or other issues. A lipid profile test provides more in-depth data regarding fat types in your blood that could point towards heart disease risk factors.
Your doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history, conduct a pelvic exam and weigh you. They may order an ultrasound of the ovaries and fallopian tubes to look for signs of PCOS such as extra hair growth, acne breakouts or dark skin spots. Furthermore, blood tests such as an HPV test for cervical cancer, glucose tolerance test to monitor your blood sugar level as well as lipid profile screening can also be ordered to determine whether dyslipidaemia, which has been linked with heart disease is present.
Diet and exercise can help relieve some symptoms of PCOS, particularly if you’re overweight. They also lower your risk for long-term health problems like type 2 diabetes and heart disease, among others. In addition to lifestyle changes, birth control pills and metformin may be taken in order to restore regular menstruation cycles as well as alleviate other symptoms; you could even use at-home testing kits in order to monitor hormone levels more closely.
Diagnosis
Woman can be diagnosed with PCOS when she experiences irregular periods, increased facial and body hair growth, difficulty in getting pregnant, unexplained weight gain and an irregular menstrual cycle. Ultrasound may reveal elevated androgen levels or polycystic ovaries – additional symptoms could include acne, greasy skin depression as well as potential heart disease or diabetes issues. Heredity or family history could also contribute to PCOS development.
Doctors take into account a patient’s medical history and conduct an exam, often including an ultrasound of the ovaries through vaginal probe placement, to diagnose PCOS. Doctors look out for high readings on blood tests which indicate higher than usual male hormone levels as an indicator of PCOS; other tests may include checking insulin and lipid (fat) levels since both may also be elevated in PCOS cases.
Women living with PCOS are at higher risk for endometriosis, uterine fibroids, ovarian cysts and preterm deliveries as well as preeclampsia (high blood pressure during gestation). Furthermore, PCOS patients may develop thickened endometrial linings known as endometrial hyperplasia that increases their chances of endometrial cancer.
As self-diagnosing using online quizzes can lead to false positive results, it is wiser to visit a physician if you suspect PCOS, rather than trying to self-diagnose using online questionnaires. As other health conditions can present similar symptoms of PCOS, seeking professional medical assistance for diagnosis will enable you to access appropriate treatments more quickly.
An endocrinologist, a specialist in hormonal disorders, will usually refer the patient for further testing and examinations. They’ll ask about family medical history as well as period frequency and any methods that work to treat symptoms; perform a physical exam while asking her to describe symptoms that worsen just prior to her period; check her ovaries and uterus for polycystic structures; as well as perform an ultrasound to check polycystic structures within those organs and request blood tests for the best diagnosis possible.
Treatment
Women suffering from PCOS often struggle to diagnose themselves due to its various symptoms, which include irregular periods, difficulty losing weight and acne as well as extra hair growth. Luckily, there are ways of treating these symptoms. By eating healthily and exercising regularly as well as taking prescription medication regularly for your condition you can help manage it and decrease the risks of type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.
Your doctor will ask about your family history and symptoms in order to accurately diagnose PCOS. They may then perform a physical exam and order blood tests that measure hormone levels. This may help rule out other causes for your symptoms such as thyroid conditions or pregnancy while checking sex hormone levels – testosterone and estrogens tend to be elevated in women with PCOS; additionally they’ll check insulin, which helps control your blood sugar.
Your doctor will also inquire about your weight and any issues with your uterus (womb), ovaries or fallopian tubes. An ultrasound could also be performed on you to examine both ovaries and the lining of your womb; an ultrasonic transducer emits soundwaves which travel through computer speakers until arriving on an image display screen allowing doctors to view images of both.
Your healthcare provider will also perform additional tests before trying to diagnose you with PCOS, such as ordering a pregnancy test as being pregnant may alter or eliminate symptoms altogether. They’ll also check to make sure there aren’t any other health conditions contributing to your symptoms, like endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome without signs or symptoms present.
Your healthcare provider might also conduct other tests, including measuring your blood pressure and cholesterol, running other blood tests to detect conditions like type 2 diabetes or high triglycerides, conducting pelvic exams to check for thickening of uterus lining or performing tests to exclude other health issues, like endometrial cancer or long-standing adenomyosis.