Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - What Happens

SYMPTOMS & TREATMENTS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a group of health problems linked to a woman's out-of-balance hormones. Common symptoms of PCOS include irregular periods, infertility, repeat miscarriages, male-pattern hair loss, male-type facial and body hair, acne, and obesity. PCOS raises your risks for serious health problems, including high blood pressure (hypertension), heart disease, diabetes, and uterine (endometrial) cancer.

Reproductive problems

Hormone imbalances linked to PCOS cause several types of pregnancy problems and related problems, including:

  • Infertility. This happens when the ovaries are not releasing an egg every month.
  • Repeat miscarriages. The cause for this is not known. These miscarriages may be linked to high insulin levels, delayed ovulation, or other problems such as the quality of the egg or how the egg attaches to the uterus.
  • Gestational diabetes during pregnancy. This risk is greater in women with PCOS than in women who ovulate regularly.
  • Increased blood pressure during pregnancy or delivery, having a larger than normal or smaller than normal baby, or having a premature baby.
  • Precancer of the uterine lining (endometrial hyperplasia). This can happen when you don't have regular menstrual cycles, which normally build up and "clear off" the uterine lining every month. You can take birth control pills or other hormone medicines to reduce the risk of endometrial hyperplasia.
  • Uterine (endometrial) cancer. Risk during the reproductive years is 3 times greater in women with PCOS than in women who ovulate monthly.3

You may have more regular menstrual cycles as you near menopause. The reason for this is not known. But your history of PCOS may still increase your long-term risk of high blood pressure (hypertension), heart disease, diabetes, or endometrial cancer.

Problems with insulin and sugar metabolism

Insulin is a hormone that helps your body's cells get the sugar they need for energy. Sometimes these cells do not fully respond to the action of insulin. This is called insulin resistance. Insulin resistance can lead to an increase in blood sugar and diabetes.

Up to 40% of women with PCOS have insulin resistance, and up to 10% get type 2 diabetes by the time they reach age 40.2 Insulin levels also rise in people with insulin resistance. High insulin levels can increase the production of male hormones and make your PCOS worse.

Serious health problems linked to insulin resistance include:

  • High blood pressure.
  • High triglycerides.
  • Low HDL ("good") cholesterol.
  • High blood sugar.
  • Excess body fat (particularly abdominal obesity).

Heart and blood circulation problems

It is possible that high insulin from PCOS makes heart and blood vessel problems worse.2 These problems include:

Breathing/sleep problems

Women who have PCOS have a higher risk of breathing problems while sleeping (obstructive sleep apnea). This is linked to both obesity and insulin resistance.2

By: Healthwise StaffLast Revised: May 11, 2010
Medical Review: Sarah Marshall, MD - Family Medicine
Kirtly Jones, MD - Obstetrics and Gynecology

© 1995-2011 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated. This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.

Advertisement
Care Circle

It Seems That You Are Not Logged In...

OR

Join Now

Welcome to Care Circle, an exclusive tool to help you take care of yourself and your loved ones. Here's how it works:

  1. Create profiles for yourself and your loved ones.
  2. Select the topics and conditions that interest each of you.
  3. Get customized news updates, original content, tools, and expert advice for each Care Circle member delivered directly to your personalized homepage.

The information you input is strictly private; you choose who has access to your Care Circle.

How do I add myself or someone else to my care circle?

Click on "Add someone." Fill out the short profile. Choose an avatar. Select the topics and conditions that interest this person from the pulldown menu. You can select as many as you want, but you must choose at least one. Click on "Add Someone" again. You should start getting updates immediately.

How do I save content to my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab of the person for whom you're saving content. Put your cursor over the piece of content that you want to save; a disk icon will appear in the righthand corner. Click on the disk and the piece of content will be moved to a save folder.

How do I add additional topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Add More to Follow," select additional topics and conditions.

How do I delete topics and conditions for someone in my Care Circle?

Click on "Manage My Care Circle." Select the tab for the person whose preferences you'd like to update. Under "Follows," scroll over the topic or condition you want to delete. An "X" should appear on the righthand side. Click on the "X" and the topic or condition will be deleted from the list.

See All News

Advertisement