What do you think of this article!!!!

[katty]

I found this article on the web. Just wonderedm what everyone thinks of it. FRIDAY, Oct. 27 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight and obese women are five times more likely than lean women to have polycystic ovary syndrome, a new Spanish study finds.

Polycystic ovary syndrome, which decreases fertility, occurs when the ovaries malfunction and levels of the hormone androgen in the body are unusually high. Symptoms include acne, excess hair growth, and irregular or no menstrual periods.

The condition is associated with sleep apnea, poor quality of life, and an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease. More than half of women with polycystic ovary syndrome are obese, but the actual prevalence of the condition in overweight or obese women was not known, according to the study authors.

This study of 113 overweight or obese women found that 28.3 percent had polycystic ovary syndrome, compared to established rates of 6.5 percent among all women and 5.5 percent among lean women.

Women in the study with polycystic ovary syndrome tended to be younger and were more likely to also have insulin resistance, the study found.

"We conclude that physicians treating overweight and obese patients should be aware of the high prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome among these women and that screening for polycystic ovary syndrome, at least by obtaining a detailed menstrual history and a careful clinical evaluation of hyperandrogenic symptoms, should be conducted routinely to diagnose polycystic ovary syndrome and ameliorate the health burden distinctly associated with this prevalent disorder," the study authors wrote.

The findings were published in the Oct. 23 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine

[elsie]

What I think is that they left out the fact that excess weight/rapid weight gain is thought to be a symptom of pcos as much as it is a cause, and they missed the opportunity to educate women on that very important fact. At least that is according to my endo, and it makes sense to me because I had a very efficient metabolism until my late 20s then put on weight very quickly at the same time the other symptoms showed up.

I wrote a thread last year about SuperSize Me and why it made me mad for the same reason. They list pcos as a complication of excess weight and implied that we have this b'c of a burger and fries addiction, which p*ssed me off to no end.

[wife and mommy]

I had a very efficient metabolism until my late 20s then put on weight very quickly at the same time the other symptoms showed up.

Same here...exactly the same!!

They list pcos as a complication of excess weight and implied that we have this b'c of a burger and fries addiction, which p*ssed me off to no end.

This implication is totally and utterly ridiculous. It's bad enough that alot of us are not educated efficiently by our doctors but to have to deal with the implication that we brought this on ourselves by those means??!! Utter freakin' crap! :evil:

[elsie]

I also wanted to say that a really interesting study would be on the possible environmental causes of this. My pcp (nurse pract.) is of the opinion that all the plastics in our surroundings bind to estrogen receptors (which makes us hold onto fat cells) and eventually throw off all our hormones. I will have to get her to give me some links I can post here.

Obviously lifestyle factors have to be considered but that can't be the whole story since as the article mentions, only half of the women with pcos are overweight, even though being overweight does increase your risk.

[elsie]

Sorry, I swear this is my last post on this topic (at least tonight lol). I meant to also say that the hormones that influence stress levels, hunger, pleasure, cravings, etc. are all affected when there's a hormone imbalance. I'm participating in a study right now that is trying to pinpoint where all these hormones converge for women and why women can work out harder than men and limit calories more, and lose weight more slowly. So take heart cysters, there are scientists out there trying to figure out why our bodies often seem to conspire against our best efforts :D

[greatOT]

Wow, this article sounds misinformed, to me. They never tried to find out the directionality of the correlation. Does posc cause obesity or does obesity cause pcos? I have never read that being overweight can make you prone to pcos. As pcos is a hormonal imballance I have a hard time believing that beign overweight can cause such changes in the brain's chemical structure to trigger pcos. Also, how would this article explain that nearly half of women with pcos *are not* obese?

hhhmmmmmmmm


-Sarah

[wife and mommy]

I also wanted to say that a really interesting study would be on the possible environmental causes of this. My pcp (nurse pract.) is of the opinion that all the plastics in our surroundings bind to estrogen receptors (which makes us hold onto fat cells) and eventually throw off all our hormones.

I came across an article on this very same thing, a couple of days ago when I was doing some PCOS research. It stated the environment could, in fact, play a role in women developing PCOS. It mentioned toxins such as pesticides, car emissions, etc. and how these toxins end up in our foods, water, and the air we breathe. Indeed, it would be a very interesting study!!

[Terra]

The condition is associated with sleep apnea, poor quality of life, and an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease

Poor quality of life? um...ok...I think my life is pretty good! I am one of the smaller pcos'ers...don't know what causes it or why. Wish someone knew! Now I have 2 different things that have an unknown cause and can't seem to be cured--kidney rocks(some say stones--I disagree) and pcos.
This article is really off base. Maybe they should come study the wide variety of women who post on this board :D

[amy j.]

I also did not start gaining weight until after I started having problems with my periods which led me to belive that the weight gain was a side effect of the PCOS and then later my endo also told me this plus saying that not only does it cause weight gain but makes it harder to lose weight. Someone needs to do their homework before educating the world on things they know nothing about. Probably written by a man. :x

[wife and mommy]

Probably written by a man.

:lol: :lol: :wink:

[texasred1]

I had actually gone through a MAJOR lifestyle change, starting eating healthy, working out, doing everything you should do to maintain a healthy lifestyle including losing 140 pounds. It wasn't until 2 years after doing all this, and I might add my mental state was better than ever, that I was diagnosed with pcos. It was at this time I couldn't figure out why I started to gain weight, yet I was working out like crazy! But prior to this lifestyle change for me I had always struggled with my weight, but not really any other pcos symptoms (or so I thought).

[karenh]

My RE is involved in the research and study of PCOS and he said he has been invloved for over 20+ yrs and he said that its a 50/50 of thin and overweight. He said that the weight is a symptom and with weight gain comes other symptoms, but women with pcos are 50/50. As for quality of life, he says its later in life if there is weight gain, in later yrs there is diabeties which we are at a very high risk of getting in mneopause and with diabeties there is a whle new risk factor. I think it was written without complete research and information, and is not accurate. This study of 113 overweight or obese women found that 28.3 percent had polycystic ovary syndrome, compared to established rates of 6.5 percent among all women and 5.5 percent among lean women.
They should not make claims on 113 overweight women.

[ahacker]

I also wanted to say that a really interesting study would be on the possible environmental causes of this. My pcp (nurse pract.) is of the opinion that all the plastics in our surroundings bind to estrogen receptors (which makes us hold onto fat cells) and eventually throw off all our hormones. I will have to get her to give me some links I can post here.

Obviously lifestyle factors have to be considered but that can't be the whole story since as the article mentions, only half of the women with pcos are overweight, even though being overweight does increase your risk.

I agree with your pcp. I also want to add that there are other products and chemicals that bind estrogens. Many of them are in our soap, shampoos, conditioners, perfumes.... things we use on a daily basis. The chemicals that are "supposed" to make our lives easier and better, in my opinion, are making our health go to hell.

-Amy

[wife and mommy]

I also want to add that there are other products and chemicals that bind estrogens. Many of them are in our soap, shampoos, conditioners, perfumes.... things we use on a daily basis. The chemicals that are "supposed" to make our lives easier and better, in my opinion, are making our health go to hell

Great point!!