PCOS is treatable and although women can be diagnosed any time after puberty, most women with PCOS are diagnosed in their 20's and 30's, usually after trying unsuccessfully to conceive.
PCOS is neither a fatal nor inherently dangerous disease and the vast majority of women with the condition do just fine. That said, there are challenges in living with a woman who has PCOS. PCOS can cause annoying symptoms and management can be tedious.
“There is no cure so far – all the treatment options available treat the symptoms and not the disease itself,” says Paolo Giacobini at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research. He and others are now trying to develop PCOS-specific drugs.
PCOS can cause missed or irregular menstrual periods, excess hair growth, acne, infertility, and weight gain. Women with PCOS may be at higher risk for type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, and endometrial cancer.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) cannot be cured, but the symptoms can be managed. Treatment options can vary because someone with PCOS may experience a range of symptoms, or just 1. The main treatment options are discussed in more detail below.
Many women with PCOS find that their menstrual cycles become more regular as they get closer to menopause. However, their PCOS hormonal imbalance does not change with age, so they may continue to have symptoms of PCOS.
If polycystic ovary syndrome is left untreated, the syndrome may lead to serious, life-threatening illnesses such as cardiovascular and heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke, and uterine and endometrial cancers. Therefore, PCOS treatment is critical and one cannot afford to ignore!
Excess insulin causes polycystic ovaries because it impairs ovulation and stimulates the ovaries to make testosterone instead of estrogen. We have an epidemic of insulin resistance, so it makes sense that we also have an epidemic of PCOS.
Limiting PCOS to being viewed as just a reproductive disorder means researchers who are interested in metabolic aspects of PCOS, like its link to diabetes and nutrition, can have trouble securing funding, Dr. Azziz says. That doesn't mean this doesn't happen, but it's less common.
Mental wellbeing & lifestyle
One of the most effective approaches for treating symptoms of PCOS has been shown to be a healthy lifestyle – eating a nutritious diet, being as active as possible and maintaining a healthy weight.
If you are a woman diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), you will most likely want to tell your long term partner about your condition — and discuss the potential complications that could affect your life together.
Myth #2: If You Lose Weight, You Can Get Rid of PCOS
Unfortunately, there is no cure for PCOS, but overweight and obese women can help balance their hormone levels by losing weight. Otherwise, treatment is aimed at managing symptoms. A wide range of treatment options can help prevent any potential problems.
Getting pregnant with PCOS after 30
Natural fertility begins to decline significantly for women around age 32. With the addition of an ovarian syndrome, women over 30 with PCOS will have greater risks associated with pregnancy, but a healthy pregnancy is still possible.
If you have PCOS, you might struggle to get pregnant. Fortunately, with lifestyle changes or infertility treatment, most people with PCOS can become pregnant. Talk to your doctor or fertility specialist for individual advice for your situation.
They found that women with PCOS were 77% more likely to have anxiety, 53% more likely to have eating disorders and more than twice as likely to have depression compared to women without PCOS.
Women with PCOS often report signs of mood swings, depression and anxiety. Mood swings can feel like rapidly fluctuating emotions that can manifest as irritability, temper, sadness and/or anxiety that results from hormonal imbalance. Many women do experience signs of mood swings, especially near their menstrual cycle.
Women with PCOS have also been found to produce more cortisol at baseline than women without PCOS. This means that women with PCOS may have more sensitive stress response systems.
PCOS is one of the most common causes of female infertility, affecting 6% to 12% (as many as 5 million) of US women of reproductive age.
It may take up to 6 months to determine whether treatment with birth control is effective. Antiandrogens also are sometimes used to treat PCOS. These medicines counter the effects of excess androgens on a girl's body, and can help clear up skin and hair growth problems.