There is a spectrum of severity ranging from a little irregularity of the menstrual cycle to troublesome excess body hair and anovulatory infertility. Early suggestions that PCOS is a cause of heart disease seems to have been unfounded. Obesity, however, is associated with heart problems and many women with PCOS are overweight. There is evidence that the long-term complications of PCOS are increased by the addition of obesity. If you have PCOS, you should make every effort to keep your weight down.
Between 20 and 40% of women found to have polycystic ovary syndrome will develop diabetes in later life. As PCOS is associated with anovulation, the endometrium may be subjected to long-term oestrogen without cyclical progesterone protection increasing the risk of endometrial cancer (endometrial cancer).
Related Medical Abstracts - Click on the paper title:-
- Polycystic ovary syndrome. Revised diagnostic criteria and long-term health consequences. (2005-01)
- Polycystic ovary syndrome associated neoplasms (2005-02)information?
- Polycystic ovary syndrome and gynecological cancers: is there a link? (2005-03)
- Type 2 diabetes and the polycystic ovary syndrome. (2004-01)
- Prevalence and predictors of coronary artery calcification in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. (2003-01)
- Early endocrine, metabolic, and sonographic characteristics of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): comparison between nonobese and obese adolescents. (2003-02)
- Hyperinsulinemia in polycystic ovary syndrome correlates with increased cardiovascular risk independent of obesity. (2000)
- Increased risk of non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension and coronary artery disease in perimenopausal women with a history of the polycystic ovary syndrome. (2000)information?
- Do polycystic-appearing ovaries affect the risk of cardiovascular disease among women with polycystic ovary syndrome?
- (2000)information?
- Long-term consequences of polycystic ovary syndrome: Results of a 31 year follow-up study. (2000).
- Mortality of women with polycystic ovary syndrome at long-term follow-up.(1998)
