PCOS- The Silent Disorder of Todays Young Women

Polycystic ovary syndrome or disorder is one of the most common disorders I see in my practice. PCOS is an extremely common disorder, affecting approximately 10% of all women and is the leading cause of infertility in women. Most women realize that something is wrong, they are just not sure what. The symptoms tend to creep up on them and PCOS is not usually tested for until the woman is severely overweight, diabetic or is having issues with infertility. Often lab testing is completed once and never tested again but the disorder tends to progress as time goes on.

Some of the more commonly experienced signs and symptoms include:

• Excess body/ facial hair growth
• Infertility and irregular menstrual cycles
• Obesity/ inability to lose weight
• Diabetes/ insulin resistance/ blood sugar dysfunction
• Sleep apnea
• Acne
• Prolonged PMS like symptoms
• Dark skin discolouration called acanthosis nigricans

There are varying degrees of PCOS symptoms and often the patients I see have some of these symptoms but may not have enough to be formally diagnosed. This can be very confusing for women. Although the name implies that the ovaries must have cysts in order to be diagnosed, this is not true. In fact, polycystic ovary syndrome is formally diagnosed if a woman has at least 2 of the following:

• Androgen excess, especially testosterone
• Ovulatory dysfunction, usually seen as irregular periods or infertility
• Polycystic ovaries or ovaries of increased size on ultrasound

If you haven't had recent labs, hormone testing as well as a fasting blood sugar test should be completed, either by your medical doctor or naturopathic doctor. If there are signs that you may have cystic ovaries, an ultrasound should be completed as well.
Most commonly conventional medical treatments include: diabetic drugs, birth control pills and fertility treatments. Naturopathic medicine has some great avenues in treating PCOS by working with the hormonal imbalance. Of course, naturopathic treatments are individualized to each case but general goals include:

• Reducing testosterone and increasing progesterone
• Regulating periods
• Stabilizing blood sugar
• Weight loss
• Gut health and liver clearance of hormones
• Reducing long term risk of diabetes and cardiovascular disease

These goals are accomplished through the use of nutritional supplements, diet, exercise, herbs and acupuncture.
​If you are in the Calgary area and wish to see a naturopathic doctor about your PCOS symptoms, please contact Dr. Katie Coombs, ND at Momentum Health.