PCOS- Pregnancy risks, Prevention and Remedy

You must have ignored or felt irritated when your elders insisted to plan for babies earlier. It is very common among Indian households where both of the couple are working and living in Nuclear families. Their intentions and reasons might be different but they were not totally wrong. In today’s busy life, we hardly get any time for physical activity both in our personal and professional lives. As a result, we develop a sedentary lifestyle which leads to several physical problems.

One of such physical problems occurring to women is Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), a metabolic disorder that happens to women of reproductive age. Reports suggest that PCOS are common among the South Asian descended women. At the child bearing age, almost 7% of women fall prey to this and leads to infertility. Earlier, the trend was mainly in the age group of above 35 years but now it has been observed even at the age of 15 years.

In 1935, the first interest was evolved on the issue of PCOS after Stein and Leventhal published a report on the same in a Journal. But even after almost a century, there is overall lack of awareness about this condition in India. It remains undetected in most of the Indian women until they plan for pregnancy and approach a doctor.

What is PCOS and how it hinders pregnancy?

In PCOS, a woman’s body produces high amount of male hormone called Androgen along with the female hormones oestrogen and progesterone. Increased Androgen level causes irregular menstruation and obstructs the ovulation process and formation of eggs. In a normal menstrual cycle, 5 follicles get matured and minimum one egg is released from the ovary. But in a woman with PCOS, double number of follicles mature and no egg is released. If a healthy egg is not released, it cannot be fertilised by a Sperm thus hindering pregnancy. It is not impossible for a woman to conceive when she has PCOS but it becomes very tough.

This is not something whose effect can be visible from the day one! As a layman, most of us even would not realise that we are victims of PCOS. You might not even realise that it is decreasing your chances of getting pregnant when you are celebrating your life with all yummy fatty foods.

Significant Symptoms       

•          Weight Gain
•     Hair fall
•          Acne
•          Irregular periods
•          Heavy flow periods
•          Pelvic Pain
•          Infertility
•          Headache
•          Sleep Apnea
•          Mood swings
•          Unwanted hair growth

These can be observed even in teens or as an adult.

Pregnancy complications in PCOS

With Doctor’s advice and treatment, if a woman gets pregnant with PCOS, she will have higher risk of multiple pregnancy, miscarriage, preeclampsia, premature delivery and gestational diabetes.

According to Dr Kanchan Sortey, the president of The Nagpur Obstetric and Gynaecological Society, 60% of PCOS patients are obese, which could be the reason behind increasing cases of PCOS. With reference to a study, the Doctor added that PCOS patients have 5 times higher risk of adverse pregnancy, 3 times increased risk of gestational diabetes and double the risk of premature delivery.

Causes & Preventive Measures

• The actual cause of PCOS is yet unknown. However, the scientists consider it as a genetic problem and a strong link is established with insulin resistance.
• As a preventive measure, doctors will always advise you to maintain a healthy weight so include physical exercise activities in your daily routine.
•  Eat fibre rich foods (green leafy vegetables, fruits, cereals, legumes and beans) to maintain nutritional requirement of the body.
• Cut your consumption of sugar, saturated fat and red meat.
• Get annual check-up done by your doctor for early diagnosis and prevention.

Treatment

The diagnosis of the problem is done mainly through a blood test, pelvic exam or an ultrasound scan. It is not completely curable but manageable to some extent by having a control over the symptoms. A multipronged approach will have a better result for the women who is planning for pregnancy or already pregnant. These are -

1.  Gynaecologist’s help
2.  Improving lifestyle, food habit and physical activities

Medication

• Insulin resistance should be treated which is often done by prescribing metformin.
• Doctors usually prescribe drugs that stimulate ovulation.
• Progesteronetherapy can be suggested to safeguard against endometrial cancer.

Lifestyle Changes

Along with medical treatment, some crucial lifestyle changes can improve PCOS in a woman. Some of them are-

• Regular exercise with Yoga can be beneficial in PCOS.
• Keep yourself away from all kinds of stress.
• Shift to a low-calorie diet.
• Opt for fibre rich foods and lean protein such as fish, tofu etc.
• Abstain yourself from caffeine, refined sugar, alcohol and nicotine. 

So, start good healthy practices early in life and don’t wait for PCOS to show its clear symptoms. Along with regular health check-up, make exercise and healthy food habit a part of your daily life. If not for pregnancy and baby, you can do this for your own health saving yourself from heart issues, diabetes and many other problems.