In laymans terms, what does PCOS mean?
It means Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Poly means plenty, cyst means abnormal growth, ovary – female reproductive organ and syndrome – a lot of things come with it.
The ovaries are meant to be circular, but for some reasons they get these abnormal growth in them leading to changes in the normal physiology of the ovary.
The symptoms that happen as a result of this change in the ovaries are what we call PCOS.
What are the telltale signs of PCOS that women should look at for before going to the hospital?
The ovaries produce the female sexual hormones that are responsible for menstruation, feminisation and other female traits.
If there’s an abnormality like in PCOS, women can’t convert make sexual hormones to female sexual hormones like others without PCOS do. This leads to excess of male sexual hormones giving rise to symptoms such as – Amenorrhea, increased sebum production, infertility, voice changes, increased chances of diabetes, endometrial cancer. Some will have excessive hair growth, darkness of some places like the palm, feet etc.
The most common symptoms are hirsutism and irregular periods, are there any other that isn’t so prominent but can be an indication?
The first is usually amenorrhea, and obesity.
Does early diagnosis play any role?
The thing is, there’s no cure for PCOS but if it’s diagnosed early, it’ll help with woman to understand what’s going on with her body. Especially since women are not routinely screened for PCOS.
Early screening helps with timely intervention and keeps women better informed of what is going on with their bodies.
Is there like a specialist the woman should request to see?
How is it diagnosed? What should she expect when she comes in?
What’s the management of PCOS like?
Management is multidisciplinary and it could include medication e.g oral contraceptives depending on the stage. Drugs for infertility, absence of menstruation and drugs for management of diabetes.
Rehabilitation, counselling, psychotherapy
Is the treatment of PCOS universal?
No, it is individualised treatment
Do many ladies come in to the hospital specifically to check if they have PCOS?
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