Adolescent Clinic

Endocrine disorder in young girls and women of reproductive age group, often complicated by chronic anovulatory infertility and hyperandrogenism.

What is PCOS?

PCOS is a common endocrine disorder in young girls and women of reproductive age group, often complicated by chronic anovulatory infertility and hyperandrogenism.

The clinical manifestations are:

Oligomenorrhoea(irregular menses or prolonged interval between 2 menstrual cycles> 35-40 days).
Hirsutism (increased body hair growth).
Acne.

Many women with this condition are obese and have a higher prevalence of impaired glucose tolerance, type II diabetes and sleep apnoea than is observed in the general population. They exhibit an adverse cardiovascular risk profile, characteristic of the cardiometabolic syndrome as suggested by a higher reported incidence of hypertension, dyslipidaemia, visceral obesity, insulin resistance and hyperinsulinemia.

PCOS is frequently diagnosed incidentally by gynaecologists.

The prevalence estimates vary widely,ranging from 2.2% to as high as 26%.

Can it be treated?

It is recommended that lifestyle changes, including diet, exercise and weight loss, are initiated as the first line of treatment for women with PCOS for improvement of long-term outcomes and should precede and/or accompany pharmacological treatment. In women with PCOS and excess weight, a reduction of as little as 5% of total body weight has been shown to reduce insulin resistance and testosterone levels as well as improving body composition and cardiovascular risk markers. The medical line of treatment is for those women who have infertility(difficulty in conceiving) along with infertility.