Symptoms & Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Richmond

Baptist Health Richmond: Symptoms & Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome is a treatable condition with varying symptoms that affect many women. Learn more about the causes and symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome with Baptist Health Richmond.

Symptoms & Treatment of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Richmond HealthTalks Transcript

Angela Smitha, PA-C, Obstetrics & Gynecology:
Polycystic ovary syndrome is a hormonal disorder that is characterized by women that overproduce androgen hormones. Androgens are typically male hormones, but when women overproduce them, it can lead to a certain set of symptoms we call polycystic ovary syndrome. The symptoms include absence of periods, irregular periods, painful periods. There can be issues with acne. Facial hair is a big issue for a lot of women. Weight gain can be an issue fairly frequently. Difficulty getting pregnant is pretty common as well.

We diagnose it with three different criteria. Oligomenorrhea is defined as having less than nine menstrual periods per year. Amenorrhea is when a lady would go three months in a row or more without a period. We also sometimes will check bloodwork, which actually measures the androgen levels in the blood.

Exercise and losing weight are things that are very helpful for women that have PCOS. We sometimes use medications in the form of hormones that can be birth control pills or progesterone that will help regulate periods.

If anyone has concerns, or is seeing symptoms, those are signs that they would want to come in and be screened for polycystic ovary syndrome.