Verity - sharing the truth about PCOS

The symptoms of PCOS are associated with abnormalities in some of the hormones that control the menstrual cycle. These abnormalities typically include: higher than normal levels of LH and of androgens, and below normal levels of FSH and progesterone. The most important androgen is testosterone, which is oroduced by all women from the ovaries. Testosterone is a normal and essential product of the ovary because most of it is converted, within the ovarian follicle, to oestrogen, which is the main female hormone. 

Women with PCOS produce higher than average amounts of testosterone from the ovaries, and it is this that results in many of the symptoms of the condition. Testosterone is often thought of as a ‘male hormone’, but this is not the case – it is just that men produce 10 times as much testosterone as women. Women with PCOS usually have a testosterone measurement that is either slightly above the female range or at the upper end of the normal range for women.

It is also thought that another hormone – insulin – may be involved in the development of PCOS. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas to regulate the level of glucose in the blood. Many women with PCOS have been found to have a condition known as insulin resistance, in which the body’s tissues are resistant to the effects of insulin (particularly on the ability of insulin to get glucose into muscle tissue), so the body has to produce more insulin to compensate. It seems that these high levels of insulin then affect the ovaries, contributing to the abnormal hormone environment.

Doctors do not yet fully understand what causes these hormonal abnormalities. It may be that there are several causes, which could explain why different women have such different symptoms. Much research is still going on in this area. It is currently thought that there is a hereditary link, whereby some women inherit a greater chance of having PCOS, but whether or not these women actually develop PCOS depends on a number of additional factors. These factors include diet and lifestyle.