PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome)

Hello, everyone. I am glad that you are watching this video. I am consultant gynecologist at Max Superspeciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh, Max Hospital in Pitampura and at my own clinic in Pitampura. Today I would like to talk about PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

It is a very common in female endocrine disorder which is increasing tremendously. The prevalence of it now is 2.2 to 26% which itself is very high. NOw, what is it about? So, this problem is about women's hormones, they get out of balance. Then it makes the problems in periods, difficult for the women to conceive or to get pregnant. If left untreated, it can lead to long term problems such as Diabetes Mellitus, Heart disease, and endocrinal cancer.

What happens in PCOS?

In PCOS, the sex hormones get out of balance. So, the male hormones increase more than a normal range. Now, what do they do?

They stop Ovulation, they cause acne, increase the facial and the body hair.

The second factor it involves is Insulin.THe Insulin resistance is caused because of PCOS. The insulin resistance causes obesity, weight gain and then later it may cause Diabetes Mellitus. The causes of PCOS is clearly not known but they run in the family. The girls which are affected from PCOS, they get it either from the mother's family or the father's family.

So, the symptoms of PCOS are;

• Hirsutism
• Extra facial and the body hair
• Thinning of hair from the scalp
• Infertility problems
• Irregular periods
• Depression

Now, coming to the diagnosis,

There are a lot of studies which are done for PCOS. PCOD is defined as any two of these three features, those are;

• The periods that come after more than 45 days or periods which comes less than 8 times in a year.
• Hyperandrogenism, Menstrual problems.
• Ultrasound features suggested of PCOS.

So, the polycystic shows up multiple cysts, that is 10 in number, 2-8 mm in size and bulky ovaries each.

This is how we diagnose. Now coming to the treatment.

There are 3 key treatments for PCOS;

• Regular exercise-   Walking is a very good exercise that most people can do. Then depending on your choice, you can swim, dance, play etc.
• Healthy diet-   In diet, you should take green leafy vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, beans, milk etc. You should avoid the intake of saturated fats like meat, cheese, fried food items, sugary food. Starchy food such as potatoes, cakes, sweet potato, maida, sooji, besan etc. You have to quit smoking if you are indulged in that too.
• Weight control-     In weight control, most women benefit even with 5% of weight loss that would help them regulate their hormones better.

The women's hormones come into balance, the periods come on time, it gets easier for the patient to get pregnant. All these favourable changes take place when the patient follows all these three steps.

Now there are pills that we can give to the patients to help her regulate her own hormones. Now, there are two types of pill;

• One is birth control pills o0r oral contraceptive pills. These pills help to balance sex hormones.
• Metformin pills are the insulin sensitizers. They tackle the INsulin resistance in the PCOS patients. 

Now, all these help in balancing the hormones of PCOS patients. If a patient is suffering from depression because of PCOS, then he would advise her to do some exercises that help to elevate the mood or to consult a counsellor or a gynaecologist.

So, if you want to contact me, you can do so through Lybrate or you can come to my clinic directlywhich is in Pitampura.

Thanks for the patient hearing.