Infertility PCOS

PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This is a condition in a woman's body, in which the eggs are not fully matured enough to become fertilized. Women who have PCOS often have an increase in male hormones known as androgens. They often have irregular menstrual cycle, and sometimes have none at all. Women with PCOS often have small fluid filled sacs known as cysts inside their ovaries.

Women with PCOS have a variety of other health problems too. Not only are the menstrual cycles and fertility affected, but hormones are out of balance, insulin production is changed, and there are health problems with the heart, blood vessels and circulatory system, and sometimes their appearance changes as well because hair will grow in various places on the body such as the face and back.

Approximately five to ten percent of women who are in the range of childbearing years are estimated to have PCOS. No one knows for sure however, exactly what causes this condition to develop. There is some evidence that there could be a genetic link however, because women with PCOS usually have a sister or mother who also has the same condition.

Many women with PCOS have problems with weight gain as well though, so some research is being conducted on a potential link. It has been found for instance, that women with PCOS make extra insulin, so some theories suggest that the ovaries respond to this by making extra male hormones within her body. When a woman has too many male hormones within her body, she experiences weight gain, facial hair growth, acne, and problems ovulating normally.

Women with PCOS still produce eggs in their ovaries, but those eggs never mature enough to be fertilized. Most women produce about twenty eggs each month, and usually only one of them matures well enough to become fertilized. With PCOS however, none of the eggs are able to mature fully because of the imbalanced hormones in the woman's body.

Women with PCOS often experience irregular or non existent menstrual periods; increased hair growth on the face, back or chest; acne and oily skin; pelvic pain; excessive weight gain and obesity, particularly around the stomach and waist; diabetes; thinning hair or baldness; thick and dark skin patches on the neck, thighs, breasts and arms; and sleep apnea.

Most prescription and modern medical treatments for PCOS revolve around altering the body's hormone levels, though some surgical procedures are done as well. Women with PCOS may want to try some natural hormone balancing herbs instead however, to avoid some of the severe side effects that often accompany synthetic hormones.

Changing your diet is important too of course, particularly if you have diabetes. Increasing your overall nutrition levels will be a great step towards healing the problems, but getting your insulin levels under control will be required as well, and this can be done with changes to your diet.

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