Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

A free and responsible press serving the UMass community since 1890

Massachusetts Daily Collegian

Sex-iversity

To Sex-iversity:

There is something I’d like to talk about and feel is important for all women to know about, so they can avoid thinking they are some sort of freak.

For the past 10 years, I have just had these mild female physical abnormalities. I just brushed them off, thinking it was no big deal. Things such as having irregular and inconsistent periods since I began menstruating, having unprotected sex as a teenager and never getting pregnant, fluids secreting from my breasts even though I was not pregnant, having acne and being overweight as a pre-teen.

Since I was 18-years-old, maybe the hardest thing to deal with has been having abnormal hair growth on my neck. Fed up and sick of plucking, last year I decided to go to University Health Services to talk to a doctor. She had my hormone levels tested, and we found out I have a high level of male hormones, particularly testosterone and androgens, and low levels of estrogen, the female hormones.

I was referred to a fertility doctor to do further tests. It was confirmed that I have Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), which would explain all of my so-called female “abnormalities.” Another side effect is infertility, but you are able to conceive with fertility drugs if you want to.

My questions are: Are there other female students out there with these symptoms? Is it hereditary? When does it start, and is it preventable? Is it related to your diet?

Any more info you can obtain on PCOS would be helpful.

Response: I think you have addressed an important and relatively common medical condition that is not widely known about in communities of young women at reproductive ages. You’ve listed symptoms I think many of us either have experienced or have had people close to us who have experienced and can relate to.

Research has shown that PCOS affects women during their reproductive years. About 30 percent of women have some symptoms of PCOS. Five percent to 10 percent of women between the ages of 20 and 40 have PCOS. In addition to the symptoms you’ve mentioned, there is also a correlation with diabetes for some people. Ovaries have also been known to become enlarged. Some even show a presence of an abnormal cyst growth.

PCOS has a wide range of symptoms, and because of this, it is considered a syndrome and not a disease. Unfortunately, the cause of PCOS is still unclear, and there is no specific “cure.” However, there are various forms of treatment to relieve symptoms and preventative measures for long-term complications.

PCOS is a manageable medical condition and has been known to develop at different rates (both early and gradual). It is recommended that if a woman has had an irregular menstrual cycle for over two years, she should see her physician about the possibility of PCOS. Like all medical conditions, it is always good to detect things sooner rather than later.

While treatment and detection are obviously very important for any woman, it is also extremely important that women with these symptoms do not feel they are a “freak” or strange in any way. All of us have differences physically and psychologically, and “normal” is an ambiguous term. Having PCOS or symptoms connected with it does not mark shame; no one should feel embarrassed.

I think it’s great you were willing to share your experience with us. Hopefully in the future, other women will also recognize their symptoms may be something more complex and that, above all, they are neither alone nor freaks.

For more information, contact your physician or organizations like the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association at www.pcosupport.org. Research can also be found on a general accredited medical site like WebMD at www.webmd.com as well as on various search engines (but be sure to check from where such sites get their information.)

Research for this article largely came from WebMD online.

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