PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome is a disorder related to hormones that are very common among women who are nearing their pregnancy. Women who are suffering from this would have intermittent or even extended periods of menstruation. The ovaries would form small bodies of fluids and would fail to release eggs at the proper time. There are multiple PCOS treatment options available today.
The exact cause of this condition is seemingly unknown. But the patients need to have the diagnosis and treatment options done early on. The reason for this is that there might be some complications that could become long term if overlooked. Some of the diseases that might tag along would include, diabetes and even some heart conditions.
This problem mainly occurs in women aged between 15 and 44, and there is a total of 2.2 and 26.7% in this age group. Most of these women who are suffering from it do not even know that they have contracted this, they get to know only after a certain period. A study also suggests that over 70% of the women are those that are not even diagnosed. It is important that having appropriate PCOS treatment available as of today.
There are no definitive tests available for the diagnosis of PCOS, but there are treatment options available as per the existing health condition of every individual. Some of these pre-existing conditions might include cases of infertility, hirsutism, obesity problems and even acne. Doctors would suggest you with some specific options that would help you out in mitigating this condition appropriately. It is important to know that PCOS treatment options are available and they are as given below,
Doctors would mainly recommend you to go through a weight loss procedure. This would involve the consumption of low-calorie foods and even doing some moderate workouts depending on your current health condition. If you lose a fraction of it, for instance, 5% concerning your body weight, then there are chances that your condition would be improved. Another plus point for this is that this will elevate the total efficacy of the medications the doctor would recommend for PCOS. This would even help you out with curbing the condition of infertility. This is one of the optimum PCOS treatment option available.
Some of the medications that would regulate your menstrual cycle as per recommendations from doctors include:
i. Birth Control Medications in combo –It is essential that you take pills that contain a good quantity of estrogen as well as progestin, plus it decreases the level of androgen and controls estrogen sufficiently. Hormone regulation would decrease the risks of endometrial cancer and also stop any abdominal bleeding. It would also decrease excessive hair growth as well as acne. You can even use a skin patch or even a vaginal ring that would contain both progestin and estrogen.
ii. Progestin Therapy –You can consume progestin for close to 10-14 days. It would help you with regulating your periods and also helping you against endometrial cancer. The therapy would not improve your androgen levels and would, therefore, increase the chances of pregnancy. You can even choose to avoid pregnancy by having an intra-uterine device laced with progestin or even a progestin minipill.
Doctors would even suggest some of these medications help you with ovulation, and they can be considered effective PCOS Treatment alternatives:
i. Clomiphene –This is an anti-estrogen medication that can be taken orally, and it is recommended that you take it during your initial menstrual cycle.
ii. Letrozole –This is a medication that is preferred for breast cancer and it would help women with the correction of ovaries.
iii. Metformin –This is an oral medication preferred for Diabetes – Type 2 and this would help the patients with the improvement of insulin resistance and lowering its levels. If you fail to become pregnant even after consuming clomiphene, then your doctor would suggest taking metformin as an added measure. If you are having a condition of pre-diabetes, then metformin can help you with delaying the progress of type 2 diabetes and even helping with the weight loss.
iv. Gonadotropins –These are medications that are secreted from the gonadotrope cells present in the anterior pituitary of vertebrates helping with increasing the production of sex hormones considerably. Some of the gonadotrophins mainly include FSH or follicle-stimulating hormone and LH or luteinizing hormones.
If the conditions consist of excessive hair growth, then some of the prescribed PCOS Treatment options would include:
i. Birth control medications –This would lessen up the production of androgen and would result in increased hair growth.
ii. Spironolactone – This would block any unnecessary effects of androgen on your skin. The medication can even result in deficiencies during birth. It is, therefore, necessary to have effective contraception when you are consuming spironolactone. The medication is strictly prohibited for those who are about to become pregnant or are already at present.
iii. Electrolysis –This treatment would include the insertion of a needle inside your hair follicle. This needle would then project an electric current pulse that would damage and destroy all other follicles. This would help you with renewed hair growth.
iv. Eflornithine –This medication comes in the form of a cream that can be applied to decrease the growth of facial hair among the patients.
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Some of the signs of PCOS are visible during the very initial stages of the menstrual period, especially during puberty. The condition can even develop in the later stages as well, for instance, if the patient has gained a sufficient amount of weight. The points below will have symptoms of PCOS in females.
There are variations in the symptoms as per every person, but when you diagnose the patient with it, some of these are common amongst all of them.
• Intermittent Periods –These would include complete periods that are very irregular, they can be unusual and can also be quite prolonged. These can be considered as some of the most common symptoms of ovarian syndrome. If we take an example, some patients would experience less than 9 periods in a year. This would mean that there is an overall stretch of 35 days in between every period which is quite irregular. The symptoms can also work vice versa, where the count is far worse than usual.
• Increased Androgen levels –Elevated levels of androgen can result in some of the visible signs which include increased body and facial hair generation, also known as hirsutism. It can even cause issues related to acne and even male-based baldness.
• Polycystic Ovaries –It might happen that your ovaries would be larger than usual and it can also contain excess follicles that will surround your eggs. This condition is known as polycystic ovaries and they might fail to function regularly.
• Male Pattern Baldness –This is a condition that results in severe hair loss at the top of your head, and also at the front. Some medications are present which can decrease the loss of hair, and you can even opt for hair transplantation procedure.
• Skin Darkening –This condition can even cause dark patches in your skin. It would mainly form in the patient’s neck, in the groin and even in the breasts as well.
• Headaches –Changes in hormones would also trigger headaches in some of the cases as well.
Some of the signs and symptoms related to PCOS could be very severe if you have obesity like conditions. You must show this to your doctor when you are undergoing menstrual periods that are not normal. If you are facing infertility and if there are increased androgen levels then it would result in hirsutism and acne as well.
PCOS CausesIt is not exactly known as to what could be the exact cause of this syndrome. But there are some of the factors that play a vital role in making this condition cause harm over time,
• Increase Insulin Levels –Insulin is mainly a peptide hormone that is created by the beta cells and is considered to be the anabolic hormone in the body. It is produced in the pancreatic areas that would allow the cells to use sugar which makes up your body’s main energy supply. If your cells become impervious to the action of insulin, then it could occur that your blood sugar levels would rise and it would result in increased manufacture of insulin. Surplus levels of insulin would result in heightened androgen production and this would cause problems in ovulation.
• Low-grade inflammation –This condition is mainly described concerning the production of white blood cells so that they can fight infection accordingly. Official researches have indicated that women who suffer from PCOS also suffer from low-grade inflammation that would help in stimulating polycystic ovaries so that it, therefore, produces androgens. This can lead to problems mainly including involving heart and blood vessels. There are PCOS treatment options available for this cause and you can opt for it.
• Heredity –Some of the researches also indicate that this issue can be hereditary as well. This is a condition that cannot be avoided but it exists.
• Increased androgen levels –This condition would involve increased levels of androgen, and it might result in hirsutism and even acne as well. PCOS treatments should be made open when you are having increased androgen levels.
Conclusion
As seen above, this describes a point by point information with regards to PCOS. The article would help you understand what are the causes, symptoms and how best would the individuals be able to mitigate these issues at the very onset of it.
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