PCOS Conference and Awareness Month

The Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association, Inc. (PCOS Association) will offer its 8th International Conference dedicated to the wellbeing of women with the endocrine condition known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Entitled "Moving Mountains", this comprehensive educational, lifestyle and support-oriented conference will take place in Denver, Colorado to coincide with PCOS Awareness Month in September 2006.

Patient-focused Conference Addresses Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

This may be of interest to some of you - a conference for women with PCOS (not medical professionals) designed to raise awareness and offer support and education. And it's good to hear that September has been designated PCOS Awareness Month.

Lisa x

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PCOS Misunderstood and Misdiagnosed

One of the leading causes of infertility is often misdiagnosed and misunderstood. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or PCOS, often leads to abnormal periods, abnormal weight gain, and hair growth. Many women with the syndrome are insulin resistant and have abnormal cholesterol levels. But with proper testing and treatment, women lose weight, return to normal insulin, and cholesterol levels and 60 to 70% eventually get pregnant. Dr. Steve Foley with Advanced Gynecology said, "A lot of people aren't treated because we don't have a definitive test to say this is what you have. We can treat it, but what I tell patients, we can't cure it." Between 5 and 10% of all women of childbearing years have PCOS. The percentage is twice that among black and Hispanic women.

News First Online

Check out this interesting news report on PCOS - there is a video that accompanies it (you have to wait through an annoying commercials). I get asked a lot whether PCOS means complete infertility, but as this report shows this is only the case for a very small number of sufferers.

To your good health,

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, polycystic+ovary+syndrome, fertility

Short Legs and Diabetes

A new study suggests people with disproportionately short legs may be slightly more at risk for Type 2 diabetes than those with longer legs.

All Headline News - People With Short Legs May Be At Higher Risk For Diabetes - July 13, 2006

Oh come on - short legs and PCOS, I don't stand a chance! How on earth did they come up with such a ridiculous statistic?!

You've gotta laugh ;-)

To your good health,

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovary+syndrome, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, type+2+diabetes, short+legs

Symptoms of PCOS

Women with PCOS may have some of the following symptoms (please note, that not every sufferer has all the symptoms, and having some of these symptoms does not automatically mean you have PCOS):

- no or infrequent or irregular menstruation

- infertility

- obesity or unexplained weight-gain (usually concentrated around the abdomen)

- acne

- thinning hair/male-pattern baldness

- excess hair (called hirsutism) on the face and body

- dark brown patches of skin around the back of the neck and in skin creases

- skin tags

These are symptms that you may see for yourself. There are other symptoms (such as cystic ovaries or enlarged ovaries) that would require a medical test to discover.

To your good health,

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, polycystic+ovary+syndrome, symptoms, polycystic+ovaries, pcos+symptoms

"Polycystic Ovary Syndrome" on Google Video

Take a look at this informative video from google videos about PCOS. Just click on the title below or copy and paste the url from the bottom of the post into your browser.

Lisa

POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME

Description:
Too many women and healthcare providers are in the dark about the serious health complications of PCOS. This two-minute video clip analyses the issue. Common symptoms of PCOS include irregular periods, acne, facial hair, loss of scalp hair and infertility. Says Dr. Rhoda Cobin of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists, in an interview, “We are trying to increase the awareness of healthcare providers about not only the diagnosis of the syndrome but its link with these serious diseases. Understand that you have a metabolic condition that is going to put you at risk for diabetes, for heart disease for hypertension, for stroke.” It is imperative for physicians to acknowledge that their PCOS patients are at high risk for developing diabetes and heart disease. The American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists advocates screening PCOS women by age 30 for diabetes.

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6155402938481789606&q=pcos&pr=goog-sl

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome video

How Common is PCOS

Polycystic Ovarian (Ovary) Syndrome affects approximately 5-10 percent of women of childbearing age and it is a leading cause of infertility. It is the most common endocrine disorder among reproductive age women. As many as 30 percent of women have some characteristics of the syndrome.

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovaries, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, polycystic+ovary+syndrome

PCOS and GI

"A low-GI diet could be particularly helpful to women with PCOS because the root of the problem is extreme insulin resistance. High insulin levels produce the high androgen levels that disturb fertility, cause acne and facial hair and inhibit weight loss. We know that a low-GI diet will acutely lower postprandial [after-meal] insulin levels in comparison with a conventional low-fat diet. By lowering insulin levels, a low-GI diet allows us to burn more fat and less carbohydrate per unit of work done. Everything I've said can be backed by several studies. But we are still in the process of proving that a low-GI diet will improve insulin sensitivity and facilitate weight loss specifically in women with PCOS.''

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2006-07-06/goods_health.php


The GI diet has been highly publicized over the past few years and there is some evidence to suggest it is a good regime (I hate the word diet - too many negative connotations) to follow if you have PCOS.

It can also be incredibly confusing.

If you are looking into it, consider trying the GL (Glycaemic Load) program instead which tries to simplify GI and takes into account average portion sizes as well.

To your good health,

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovaries, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, gi+diet, weight+loss, glycaemic+load, losing+weight

Losing Weight with PCOS

I just read this on a medical website:

"If you have PCOS you might need to lose weight"

I think they meant that not everybody with PCOS is overweight, but when I read it I just laughed and thought "no kidding"! A lot of us with PCOS are overweight but losing it isn't always easy, in fact it's an ongoing battle. Yes, symptoms improve with weight-loss but one of the symptoms is that it is harder to lose weight - a catch-22!

Be well,

Lisa x

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovaries, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, weight+loss, losing+weight

PCOS and Hypothyroidism

There is even a strong connection between hypothyroid and polycystic ovary syndrome. “In lab research, when you want to create a polycystic ovary, you create hypothyroidism in the animal,” says Rais.

Career, kids, now thyroid : HindustanTimes.com

This is new to me and very worrying. I wonder how many women with PCOS have been tested for thyroid problems - I'm sure I haven't.

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, hyprothyroidism, polycystic+ovary+syndrome

PCOS Awareness

Realizing real change has to come from more awareness, exposure and education for PCOS(Polycystic Ovary Syndrome), a petition drafted by a PCOS Awareness Advocate is now online. For many PCOS Awareness plays a key role in helping them learn to live and deal with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and ultimately live a healthier life. Many feel PCOS Awareness has to happen now to ensure women and girls do not have to go through another day, month or year of silent suffering and to ensure they are educated on how to live a healthier life with this syndrome.

Online Petition Hopes to Make PCOS a Known Acronym

Take a look at this press release about making people more aware of PCOS. 10% of women suffer from it and yet many people still don't know it exists. There is a petition  you can sign online as well.

Lisa

technorati tags:pcos, polycystic+ovarian+syndrome, awareness, polycystic+ovary+syndrome, petition

PCOS Matters

Welcome to PCOS Matters, a blog dedicated to PCOS, otherwise known as Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

I look forward to sharing with you the latest news and updates on PCOS as well as my own journey with the syndrome.

To your health,

Lisa x