Keynotes

This blog describes a syndrome. 

We know it as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). 

It affects a significant number of women (as many as 25% of the female population in the age range 20-50). 

There is no cure. 

Medical help is available for only one feature of the syndrome, but not for the syndrome as a whole. 

Treatments are available and there are support groups. 

HOWEVER 

The syndrome is not properly understood. 

Many of the symptoms are not properly addressed and women are expected to simply "get on with it". Much of the advice available for the majority of these symptoms merely masks the effects, rather than dealing with the root cause. Some of the advice is unhelpful or plain wrong. 

Worst of all, some sufferers are never diagnosed, passed around from pillar to post in the medical world, told they have any number of various conditions and given treatments which are not appropriate. 

There is no treatment plan which addresses the whole syndrome: Nothing which gets to the heart of the matter. Nothing which fixes it for good and stops others from having to suffer in the first place. 

PCOS - Misunderstood

There is no clear understanding of PCOS, its causes and progression. Studies repeatedly prove inconclusive and existing treatments have limited success. 

The medical profession, fixated on the very real need to help women conceive and carry their baby to term, have missed the point. 

There is a good reason for the confusion, the misdirections and the lack of structured support: we have been looking in the wrong place. 

What we know as PCOS is not the syndrome at all. PCOS is simply one symptom of a syndrome whose effects reach far wider. 

Polycystic ovaries stop women from having a "normal" menstrual cycle and therefore from conceiving, but the syndrome is far bigger than this. Lumping additional symptoms into the PCOS bracket does nothing good: it confuses study, confounds the experts, makes clarification impossible. 

The True Syndrome

The "true" syndrome includes PCOS but that is not the extent of it. 

The true syndrome affects nearly every aspect of a woman's life, from mental health issues such as anxiety and depression, to polycystic ovaries, to physical considerations which affect self-esteem such as alopecia, hirsuitism, adult acne, and go as far as life-limiting (indeed, life shortening) conditions such as uncontrolled weight gain, diabetes and loss of mobility. 

The True Syndrome doesn't just apply to those with a PCOS diagnosis. I know sufferers who have never been diagnosed with PCOS, but this doesn't mean that they don't have this syndrome. One lady I met recently explained her symptoms (same as mine) and that she'd been told at different times that she had Crohns Disease,  Colitis, IBS, depression, gluten intolerance, and of course, not one of the treatments had been effective. Largely, one expects, because they have been treating the wrong things with the wrong drugs! Indeed, I went through this process myself so I can definitely understand how this happens and her frustration at the lack of sensible support available.

For the want of a better title (I've never come across anyone describing the syndrome), I call it Endocrine Distress as it affects every part of the Hormone (Endocrine) system. 

Where should we go from here?

It's time we looked at this syndrome with fresh eyes and examined the issues properly. It's time we understood the causes and the reasons why the body is actually producing a logical (albeit unwanted) response to its environment. 

When examined as a complete syndrome, the causes are obvious, the response understandable and the treatments become clear. 

Millions of women are suffering with this syndrome without proper support and living with debilitating consequences. 

It's time we fixed this for good. 

Check out the detailed descriptions of the causes, symptoms and treatments I suggest for for this syndrome - you can find posts on each topic by searching on a specific topic area. In the meantime, here's a brief synopsis:

Endocrine Distress - A Summary:

This syndrome (Endocrine Distress) is caused by an overload of our hormones (the Endocrine System). 

Hormones don't work alone. The body is one organism with various different parts working together to keep you walking, talking, functioning as a human being. The endocrine system is part of this - it's affected by everything we do, everything we touch, ingest and feel (both emotionally and physically). Furthermore, the endocrine system functions as a set: pumping out chemicals to balance, take action and rebalance. If we upset one part of this system, we affect the whole system. 

Endocrine Distress is caused by STRESS. I mean stress in all its forms, including physical stressors, such as taking medication, restricting food intake, overtraining at the gym, sleep deprivation; and psychological stressors, such as worrying about paying the mortgage at the end of the month, working in a job you hate, or struggling to rise the corporate ladder, living in a bad relationship, 

Experiencing stress momentarily or for a short time is healthy - we're designed to cope with that. The stress which causes extra adrenaline to kick in and to boost the body so that our cave-girl ancestors could run away from a charging bison, and which today allows us to jump out of the way of a speeding car. That's a healthy mechanism: it gives us a burst of power. 

Overloading the body with stress over a long period (weeks, months, years) is not healthy. Our bodies are not designed to cope. Our cave-girl ancestors would not know what we were talking about or why we put ourselves through it! The body is not designed to experience elevated levels adrenaline and cortisol all day every day and as a result, the body starts to break down, overloaded by too much hormone. 

From there, everything the body does is logical, but for us, unfortunately, it's the wrong response. 

Remember that guy who introduced grey squirrels into Britain thought he was doing a good thing, only to find that the grey squirrels killed nearly all the red indigenous ones?, or when the chinese government ordered the people to kill all the sparrows because they were eating the corn, only to find that sparrows don't eat corn and the insect culprits now had no predator to keep them at bay? Well, the body is basically doing the same thing: trying very hard to get things right and unfortunately getting it even more wrong!!! 

Ah, bless. Sorry, my lovely body, nice try but..EPIC FAIL!!!

Once viewed from this perspective, everything else is logical:

Increased levels of adrenaline and cortisol signal to the body that there is danger. It makes sense to temporarily prevent pregnancy - no body (or nobody) wants to have a baby when there is a chance of impending death. Thus PCOS - it's logical. 

Increased levels of ghrelin, leptin and confused insulin suggests a food shortage: I'm going to eke out every last mouthful and store everything I can. Thus slow metabolism and weight gain - it's logical. 

Stress as Culprit: The Logical Argument

Once we identify stress as the factor causing this syndrome, it all makes sense. Everything the body does or is trying to accomplish becomes understandable. Every knock-on effect and symptom is similarly traceable. I believe it considerably increases our potential for success in solving the problem.

Trying to hang every symptom on a fault with the ovaries is not logical: PCOS is just one of a wide range of symptoms. Trying to categorise in this way is a bit like calling the 'flu "runny nose disease". Yeah, that's part of it, but a runny nose could be for a number of reasons - better to treat the underlying issue than just keep blowing your nose. 

About this Blog

The posts on this blog discuss these causes in more detail, explain my journey and suggest treatments that have been helpful to me. Have a read and let me know what you think. I also have a lot more posts to write, and my ongoing experiments on myself continue. I look forward to hearing your views. Collaboration is key in all exploration, and if you have something to share, I'd love to hear it. 

Happy reading!