Tuesday, August 29, 2006

PCOS Petition 2

The PCOS Treatment and Awareness Petition plans to empower the PCOS Community to speak very openly about their struggles, symptoms, and trials to overcome the illness, to help other women and girls understand the syndrome and seek the proper resources to help them manage their lives with PCOS. It hopes to be a driving force in changing the way the public, media and government view PCOS education, treatment and coverage for medical procedures, as a result of PCOS. Robin Brooks Radel, a woman living with PCOS agrees, "I’d like woman to know that PCOS exists and it can cause infertility, high blood pressure, heart disease, increased risk for some cancers, excess facial hair, hair loss, and diabetes I’d like woman to be educated and to pursue good health care. I’d like insurance companies to know that this is an endocrine disorder and therefore prevent them from denying treatment. I’d like my children to understand this disease, as it seems there is a hereditary link. I’d like doctors to understand that PCOS is not a fertility disorder, it is an endocrine disorder, and it can be treated. Maybe someday, it can be cured. Until that day, awareness is the most powerful weapon."The online petition can be found at:http://www.petitiononline.com/pcosweb1/petition.html

Petition for PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) is Quickly Gaining Signatures and Notice


If you haven't read about this petition yet please read this press release and head over to the petition site if you feel compelled to do so.

Lisa

technorati tags:, , ,

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Acne Treatment Warning

Almost 90 per cent of patients prescribed Roaccutane (isotretinoin) pills show improvements to their skin, but by taking it they run a risk of developing high levels of triglycerides (fats) and cholesterol in the blood. Tests of liver function show the presence of enzymes that normally signal liver damage.

Top acne drug 'increases the risk of liver damage' - Health - Times Online


I thought this might be interesting (and important) to some of you, since many PCOS sufferers also have to deal with acne problems, and this research suggests that this particular drug could cause greater problems. The article goes on to say:

"The team points out that abnormalities in laboratory tests do not necessarily signify anything serious, but patients with large increases in triglyceride levels are, they say, at greater risk of future ill-health, which could include the set of symptoms known as the metabolic syndrome: obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, which can lead to type 2 diabetes. They plan further studies to examine whether Roaccutane patients are more prone to these symptoms."


To your good health,

Lisa

technorati tags:, , , ,

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

UK PCOS Support and Conference

Verity Conference, Saturday 21 October 2006, Holiday Inn Bristol-FiltonCome along to Verity's next conference in Bristol on Saturday 21 October and hear talks from leading PCOS experts such as Professor Bill Ledger and Doctor Shirine Boardman. You will also have the chance to meet and talk with other women with PCOS. More details and online registration soon."That's the first meeting I have attended, I have found it very informative and will be looking forward to the next one""Only recently diagnosed with PCOS, I found today very informative and it's great to find out that am not on my own""Everyone was so open and honest about their problems, it's been great to feel that there are so many others who understand... a great day"

Verity - The Polycystic Ovaries Syndrome Self Help Group - Home


Verity is a fantastic oganisation. If you are in the UK and looking for PCOS support - check out the website.

Lisa

technorati tags:, , , , , ,

Sunday, August 13, 2006

Insulin Resistance hope?

Metabolic syndrome, an aging-associated group of disorders that includes insulin resistance, heart disease and high lipid levels, may be treatable thanks to a newly discovered role for a regulatory gene, according to a team of scientists at the Burnham Institute for Medical Research.

Insulin Pathway Component Explains Insulin Resistance, Age-associated Metabolic Syndrome


This is a pretty dry press release which suggests that current research into insulin resistance could have hit a breakthrough. Don't get too excited - it's early days yet - but since insulin resistance plagues many of PCOS sufferers, it could be good news for the future.

To your good health,

Lisa


technorati tags:, , , ,

Sunday, August 06, 2006

PCOSA Founder Christine DeZarn

She had married the year before and was trying to get pregnant but couldn't. Her periods were irregular. She was packing on the pounds, and no matter what she did, they wouldn't go away. And suddenly hair was growing on her chin.

"These things were all happening at the same time, and I was very confused," Christine Gray DeZarn recalls. "I thought I was possessed or something."

Doctors didn't connect the problems and neither did she - until she participated in an online forum on fertility problems and came across a woman describing symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS."I immediately identified with everything she had," DeZarn says.

KRT Wire 08/04/2006 Hormone disorder can be difficult to diagnose, treat

This is an interesting article on PCOS and Christine DeZarn - the founder of the PCOSA. I recently had the good fortune to interview Christine on both of these subjects and it was enlightening. Even after all my years of researching the subject, she was still able to reveal information I didn't know or wasn't sure about.

If you would like access to the audio interview, please sign up for the PCOS Matters newsletter using the form in the top right hand corner of this blog or by visiting http://www.pcosmatters.com. You will be able to download an introduction to PCOS featuring Christine, and as well as hear other audio from medical, nutrition and natural health experts, before I direct you to the full interview with Christine which you can download and listen to free.
To Your Good Health,

Lisa x



technorati tags:, , ,

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

New Audio Report

There's a new audio report available on PCOS. Sign up for the PCOS Matters newsletter - either in the top right corner of this blog or by visiting http://www.pcosmatters.com - and you will be given directions on how to download it.


Lisa


technorati tags:, , ,

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

PCOS Risks of Heart Disease

A. High blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol are typical causes of heart disease. Other factors that increase a woman's risk include smoking, obesity, oral contraceptive use after age 35 and an endocrine disorder known as polycystic ovary syndrome.

Belleville News-Democrat | 08/01/2006 | What a woman should know about her heart


Unfortunately, one of the greatest risks of having PCOS, especially if you are overweight, is heart disease. This is partly due to hormonal reasons and partly due to weight-gain being mainly around the abdomen, like men.

Lisa


technorati tags:, , ,