Over here, I mentioned that I have a condition called PolyCystic Ovary Syndrome. I shouldn’t have been surprised when two other women chimed in with the same diagnosis as well, but I was.
Considering that anywhere from 6 - 10% of women of child-bearing years in the US are afflicted with PCOS, I thought it might be nice for us to gather together and complain abo- ahem, offer support and advice to one another. Perhaps we’ll end up taking it to email, or, if there’s a great enough interest, I could see about setting up a message board.
For those of you not in the know, PCOS is actually a misnomer. The disease is fundamentally linked to hyperinsulemia and insulin resistance. Because insulin is a “master” hormone, the overabundance of it wreaks havoc with other hormones. Some of the symptoms include hirsuitism, acne, acanthosis nigricans (brown patches on the skin, esp. the back of the neck), male pattern baldness, obesity, irregular or missing periods, high cholesterol and blood pressure, infertility, a risk of heart attack about equal of what men have, and ovarian cysts. There are also some links with clinical depression. Two of the give-away symptoms of PCOS are being overweight and carrying most of the fat around the waist. It’s almost as though someone sat down and decided to come up with a disease that was tailor-made to make women feel unfeminine.
There is some good news out there. Low carb diets help mitigate the symptoms, and some of the new medications out there can help lower insulin resistance and make it easier to lose weight. There are some great doctors out there that can help.
I was diagnosed about 10 years ago, when I was 19. Since then, I’ve been astonished at the number of women I’ve met with the same ailment. I’ve heard theories that PCOS can be blamed on the number of chemicals that mimic human hormones now in our environment, on genes, on poor diet, and on gynecological imbalances. For me, I think it’s a combination of genes (my grandmother and I share a striking resemblence, including body type and fat distribution; I think she had PCOS in a mild form.), ingrained eating habits, and a sedentary lifestyle. Most other women I’ve talked to share the same feelings.
So, here’s the place to share your story, swap information, get some moral support, or just do a little sounding off.