Health and Fitness Blog: PCOS

So what is PCOS?

Polycystic ovarian syndrome, or PCOS, is a condition in which a woman’s levels of the sex hormones estrogen and progesterone are out of balance. This leads to the growth of ovarian cysts (benign masses on the ovaries).
PCOS can cause problems with a women’s menstrual cycle, fertility, cardiac function, and appearance.

Symptoms of PCOS

Symptoms of PCOS typically start soon after a woman begins to menstruate. The type and severity of symptoms varies from person to person. The most common characteristic of PCOS is irregular menstrual periods.

Because PCOS is marked by a decrease in female sex hormones, this condition may cause women to develop certain male characteristics, such as:

excess hair on the face, chest, stomach, thumbs, or toes
decrease in breast size
deeper voice
thin hair

Other symptoms include:

acne
weight gain
pelvic pain
anxiety or depression
infertility

While not symptoms of the disease, many women with PCOS have other concurrent health problems, such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. These are linked to the weight gain typical in PCOS patients.

How Is PCOS Treated?

Treatment for PCOS is not curative. Treatment focuses on controlling symptoms and managing the condition to prevent complications. The treatment will vary from woman to woman, depending on specific symptoms.

A healthy diet and regular exercise is recommended for all women with PCOS, particularly those who are overweight. This can help to regulate your menstrual cycle and lower your blood glucose levels.

*Research taken from www.healthonline.com

How Healthy Nutrition Can Help

Each person is different, and working with individuals as a health coach I can work out a plan for you to help with weightloss and to ease some of the other symptoms that come with PCOS through improving your diet and through exercise.

I will leave you with a feel good story, this is the story of a family who lost over 600 pounds between them, and what is so special about this story is that Katie and Luis Aranda wanted to have a baby, but in order to do so her doctor informed her that she would need to lose weight. Losing weight can be difficult for anyone but for Katie's health condition, PCOS, makes it especially difficult. You can read their story by clicking here.

If you found this post useful, please share and leave a comment below

Colette Morris
Nutritional Therapist, IICT, SacDipl, (Diet & Nutrition)
Health Coach

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