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POLYCYSTIC OVARY SYNDROME

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is disorder of uncertain ethology & is the most common hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age.

 

PCOS causes irregular menstrual cycles, excessive body or facial hair and polycystic ovaries as its main symptoms. Polycystic means "many cysts," and PCOS often causes clusters of small, pearl-sized cysts in the ovaries.

 

Women with PCOS produce slightly higher amounts of male hormones known as androgens, which contribute to some of the symptoms of the condition.

PCOS Symptoms & Complications

 

Women with (PCOS) frequently exhibit central obesity, glucose intolerance, atherogenic dyslipidemia (elevated levels of triglycerides (TG) and LDL and low levels of HDL) and hypertension, which are characteristic features of a condition of cardio metabolic risk.

 

The common PCOS symptoms are difficult enough for most women, but some will experience further complications, including:

 

  • Diabetes, elevated insulin levels or insulin resistance

  • Heart and blood vessel problems

  • Uterine cancer

  • Sleep apnea

 

Lifestyle and Prevention

 

There is no cure for PCOS, but controlling it lowers your risks of infertility, miscarriages, diabetes, heart disease, and uterine cancer. One of the best treatments for PCOS is a healthy Lifestyle modification with regular exercise, a healthy diet, weight control, fat loss, and not smoking.

Exercise & PCOS

 

One of the main ways that exercise seems to help PCOS is to help manage glucose and insulin. Exercise helps alleviating PCOS by improving your insulin sensitivity, increasing your metabolism and helping to shed any excess weight.

 

Both aerobic and resistance exercises are good. Researchers found that participants of resistance exercises showed better improvement in insulin sensitivity than with aerobic exercise alone.

 

Strength training increases the size of skeletal muscle and might enhance the muscles’ ability to manage glucose, decrease LDL.

Cardio training causes your heart rate to rise and it uses energy, increasing your total calories used, which will help with weight loss. It has also been shown to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in women with PCOS

 

Now that we know that diet and exercise play crucial role in managing PCOS, the next question is how much and what kind of exercise should we be doing?

 

Well there are general guidelines like eat food high in protein and low in high glycaemic foods, cardio (4 sessions per week) & strength training (2 sessions per week).but everybody has different needs, capabilities and strength. Thus the dietary guidance and exercise scheduling has to be customized for the individual.

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