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Haitham Hamoda
King's Fertility
How common is PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)?
Dr Haitham Hamodaexplains thatPCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)is common, but differentiation needs to be made between polycystic ovaries and PCOS. Up to 20% of women can have polycystic ovaries, but PCOS includes many other symptoms, and is far less common.
Transcript
Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is common. What needs to be differentiated, however, is polycystic ovaries from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. So, the term polycystic ovaries would refer to the description of the ovaries and their appearance on a pelvic ultrasound scan. So, if you do an ultrasound scan on a patient and you find that the ovaries look polycystic with multiple small follicles seen, that is a polycystic ovarian appearance. That is estimated to occur in about 20% or more of patients. Not all women with polycystic ovaries will have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. In fact, many will have normal, regular menstrual cycles, their weight is within normal range. They've got no issues with androgen access. And in that scenario, you would describe the polycystic ovaries as a physiological variation, a physiological appearance that one would argue is of no clinical relevance. And, in fact, if anything, that group of patients have low...sorry, have high ovarian reserve. Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, on the other hand, refers to the combination of ovaries that look polycystic but combined with clinical manifestations of either irregular menstrual cycles and associated with signs of increased androgen production. So, in other words, either increased hair growth over the face, neck area, or acne, or greasy skin, and may also be associated with issues with weight gain.