This month of August marks Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Awareness Month, otherwise known as PCOS. This complex hormonal condition, which affects the ovaries, is impacting many women today. However, some are managing the condition as best as they can with a healthier lifestyle of a better diet, exercise, better quality of sleep, low stress, and appropriate medications. Let’s dig deeper into what you need to know about this condition, including what could happen if left untreated.
What is PCOS?
PCOS is a set of symptoms caused by a problem with a woman’s hormones. It is a prevalent condition for women of child-bearing age that primarily affects the ovaries. However, this condition could also affect the rest of the body. It could lead to very serious health issues if left untreated, which will be talked about later.
Some of the symptoms of PCOS involve either having missed or very light periods, having ovaries that are large or with many cysts, weight gain, thinning air, oily or acne skin, or infertility. Experts today still don’t know the exact causes of this illness. But they do say it could be due to your body not using insulin well. So women who have insulin resistance, are obese or have female family members diagnosed with it are the ones who are the most at risk for PCOS.
Can I Live a Normal Life with PCOS?
It’s possible for most women diagnosed with the illness to live a normal life. Women with PCOS do struggle with physical changes that come with the condition such as acne, weight gain, and hair growth in the stomach, chest, and back. Several treatments can reduce or minimize these symptoms. Contact your healthcare provider about the best treatments for your symptoms.
What Happens if PCOS is Left Untreated?
Treating your PCOS symptoms is vital because there could be some serious consequences to never doing something about them. Several possible complications could occur when PCOS is left untreated. Some of these include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, problems with the heart and blood vessels, and uterine cancer. Women with PCOS could also experience issues with getting pregnant.
The types of treatment that women diagnosed with PCOS typically receive depend on whether or not they want to get pregnant in the future. Women looking to get pregnant are usually given different types of treatment from women who aren’t. For those who plan to get pregnant, they are usually given medicines to help the ovaries release eggs normally. Women who aren’t looking to become pregnant could be prescribed diabetes medicine, a recommended change in diet and activity, birth control pills, and other medicines to treat acne and body hair growth.
Can I Live with PCOS Without Medication?
It’s actually possible to live with PCOS just by changing your lifestyle and diet. Some dietitians such as Amanda Stathos, M.S., R.D., L.D.N. even say that women can improve their symptoms by eating healthier with whole, unprocessed foods such as omega-3 rich fish, olive oil, beans, and other legumes, non-starchy vegetables, whole grains, and whole fruit. Stay hydrated with plenty of water or unsweetened coffee or tea. Following diet trends may not be too beneficial for women with PCOS.
Overall, Stathos says that eating healthier, exercising more, getting plenty of sleep, managing stress, and following other healthy lifestyle habits can help control PCOS symptoms. “If you are diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, it doesn’t mean that you are destined to have poor health,” she stresses. “There is a lot you can do to take charge, minimize symptoms, and keep yourself healthy.”
Does PCOS Affect Life Expectancy?
Despite the fact most women could live and manage it well, there is still no cure for the condition. New data published last year suggests that PCOS does appear to shorten a woman’s lifespan. A 2023 study has found that diagnosed women died on average a year earlier than their age-matched counterparts, with a mean age of 51.4 years compared to 52.6 years for the control women. Nearly 10,000 women with PCOS and matched controls were involved in the study in Finland.
While this is unfortunate, women coping with this disease could still do the best they can to lead a normal life. Managing PCOS with a healthy diet, exercise, low stress, and plenty of sleep has proven to be beneficial. Certain medications could be useful in treating the condition as well. If you’re one of the many women living with PCOS, you can still live your life by managing your health one day at a time.
Are you a woman living with PCOS? Do you have a mother, sister, cousin, or friend living with the condition? Feel free to share your story on how you manage your condition each day in the comments section below. As always, be sure to like or share this post with the next brave woman you know coping with this condition.
