Polycystic ovary syndrome, also known as PCOS, is a common health condition that affects how a woman’s ovaries work. It is one of the most common disorders in women, affecting approximately 10 to 20% of all women worldwide, with less than 50% of them receiving a diagnosis.
The National Health System states that it is a problem that affects 1 in every 10 women in the UK.
According to UC Davis, women suffering from PCOS produce more testosterone than women without it, which causes excess hair growth in the face and body acne, weight gain and loss of hair on the scalp. If PCOS remains untreated, it can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases up to 4-7 times higher or diabetes by 3-6 times.
Unfortunately, this syndrome hasn’t got a cure yet. People who suffer from this condition are likely to get prescribed the contraceptive pill, making all symptoms disappear.
“The contraceptive pill acts as a band-aid. It can balance hormones and can help with the elevated androgens, but when you take that band-aid away, symptoms will come back worse.”, says Amy Medling, PCOS expert and funder of PCOS Diva.
Amy explains that certain foods can be very inflammatory, being gluten and dairy the most common ones. “Cutting off these from your diet will make you feel more energetic”, she explains.
Exercising also plays an important role. Finding an exercising routine that works for you, like walking, doing cardio or Zumba will also help with the symptoms.
Hannah Stoner, better known as the PCOS Health Coach on Instagram, is a fair believer that the syndrome can be treated naturally. “If suffering from PCOS, you need to keep everything balanced. There is no wrong or right method. You just need to get to a sustainable lifestyle by reducing the glucose response on your organism and increasing the protein you are eating.” Hannah says.
Other symptoms of this disease include painful menstruation or amenorrhoea (missed periods), pelvic pain and sleep apnea. As a result, depression may be a common condition in women with PCOS.
Shruti Shingvi, 20, has been suffering from this medical condition for five years now. With her Instagram account @slayingpcos, she shares her experience and helps whoever is diagnosed with it.
“For many time, PCOS was something that I wanted to get rid of. Sometimes it can get overwhelming because many things are happening inside you all at the same time.” Shruti says.
Even if the disease is commonly known worldwide, there is not enough education about PCOS.
There is so much within your control to manage PCOS, and just changing your mindset and the way you are looking at it will help. The signs and symptoms are the messages that your body is sending you that something is out of balance, so listen to them. Figuring out what is out of balance will help you control your PCOS.” Amy concludes.
Find attached a PCOS relaxing yoga session: