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What is PCOS ?
What is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)?
Women with PCOS usually have ovaries that contain many small follicles or cysts. The eggs contained in these follicles don't grow normally. Each month, new follicles develop and shrink into cysts.
What is PCOS in Medical Terms?
PCOS, also known as Stein-Leventhal Syndrome. The condition is called polycystic ovary or ovarian syndrome because the ovaries have multiple cysts. The polycystic appearance of the ovaries is created by follicles, which have failed to develop and release mature eggs. It is important to underline that not all women with PCOS have polycystic ovaries and not all women with polycystic ovaries have PCOS.
The primary cause of PCOS is an imbalance of hormone levels. In many medical books "hyperandrogenism" is used to describe PCOS because women with this condition have elevated levels of serum of androgens (testosterone and androstenedione), which are responsible for the suppression of ovulation.
More recent studies have shown how high levels of insulin (hyperinsulinemia) seems to cause the overproduction of androgens. Also, insulin resistance forces the beta-cells in the pancreas to over-produce insulin, ultimately leading to beta-cell exhaustion and diabetes.
Both insulin resistance and high levels of androgens lead to the imbalance production of the female hormones, like the follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and the luteinizing hormone (LH), which control a woman's menstrual cycle and trigger ovulation. The result of this hormonal imbalance is anovulatory and irregular menstrual cycles typical of PCOS.
PCOS is also associated with elevated LDL "bad" cholesterol, high blood, metabolic syndrome and obesity.
What is PCOS in Plane English?
The woman with PCOS normally does not have a regular menstrual cycle, and she does not ovulate normally. Male hormone presence disrupts ovulation leading to irregular menses. An ultrasound will display many small follicles present on the ovary indicating PCOS. Blood glucose levels are important, as PCOS finds its root cause in insulin resistance, which eventually can also lead to type II diabetes. Insulin signals the pituitary gland and the reproductive system to release certain hormones responsible for the regulating the ovulation cycle. When this process is disrupted, the reproductive system does not understand the messages that your insulin is sending, and ovulation does not occur regularly.
Insulin is a hormone that is released by the body's pancreas in response to eating food like carbohydrates. Its role is to transport sugar out of the blood and into muscle, fat and liver cells, where it is converted to energy or stored as fat. Insulin resistance means that this process is defective because the cells do not respond to insulin or better are "resistant" to insulin. The pancreas must secrete more and more insulin to get sugar out of the blood and into the cells. The result is polycystic ovaries, weight gain increased LDL and triglycerides. Nevertheless, it is important to point out that not all women with PCOS have insulin resistance.
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