Symptoms Of Polycystic Ovaries

Group offers support to those with polycystic ovary syndrome

When Keysha L. Riddick’s doctor bluntly told her in 2002 that she had PCOS and that she might never be able to bear children, she was devastated.

“I went to work. I cried all day. I came home. I cried all night,” the Harrisburg woman said.

She couldn’t go to baby showers and children’s birthday parties. A walk by the baby section of a department store unleashed rivulets of tears. The diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome ultimately led to the break-up of her first marriage and a valley of deep depression.

Because she didn’t get the support and education she needed, Riddick, now 32, has become an evangelist for health education, self-esteem and the collective power of women. She founded Sophisticated Ladies Inc., a support group for women with PCOS, and serves as its president.

When she is not working as a billing specialist for a water company, she approaches women — from sales clerks at clothing stores to her colleagues at the African-American Chamber of Commerce — to ask them if they know anyone with PCOS. She often finds people who have it, or think they might. Many others have no idea what PCOS is.

According to Dr. Richard Legro, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and public health sciences at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center , PCOS is the most common endocrine disorder among women of reproductive age, affecting 5 percent to 7 percent of young women.

“It is the single leading cause of infertility in the world,” he said. In years past, PCOS was often “misdiagnosed, under-diagnosed, or blown off,” he added.

Although the ovary is the size and shape of an almond, a few tiny bubbles on the outer edge of this organ can have colossal consequences, including infertility, diabetes, stroke and heart attack.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome – Causes, Symptoms and Treatment Methods ...

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common endocrinopathies in women of reproductive age. It is the most common hormonal reproductive problem in women of childbearing age. This can affect fertility and pregnancy. It can also cause male-type body changes. Irregular or heavy periods may signal the condition in adolescence, or polycystic ovary syndrome may become apparent later when a woman has difficulty becoming pregnant. Women with PCOS may produce too much insulin, which signals their ovaries to release extra male hormones. It is the most common endocrinopathy among reproductive age women. As many as 30 percent of women have some characteristics of the syndrome. Polycystic ovary disease is characterized by enlarged ovaries with multiple small cysts, an abnormally high number of follicles at various states of maturation, and a thick, scarred capsule surrounding each ovary. PCOS is also associated with peripheral insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia, and obesity amplifies the degree of both abnormalities.

Polycystic ovary syndrome is now recognized as a heterogeneous syndrome. The syndrome was originally reported by Stein and Leventhal in 1935 when they described a group of women with amenorrhea, infertility, hirsutism (unwanted hair growth in women), and enlarged polycystic ovaries. Women with PCOS frequently have a mother or sister with PCOS. But there is not yet enough evidence to say there is a genetic link to this disorder. Many women with PCOS have a weight problem. If PCOS is not treated properly, it can put a girl at risk for lots of problems, such as infertility, excessive hair growth, acne, diabetes, heart disease, abnormal bleeding from the uterus, and cancer. Polycystic ovaries are enlarged bilaterally and have a smooth thickened capsule that is avascular. On cut sections, subcapsular follicles in various stages of atresia are seen in the peripheral part of the ovary.

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