Polycystic Ovarian Disease/Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOD/PCOS)

In today's busy world where our lives have become robotic and we tend to work day and night without properly eating , sleeping and with constant stress and tension and pressure regarding work , relationships or social life we tend forget that we are humans and we have our health and our body to look after . We tend to forget that our body and our mind needs rest. In this ever changing world our lifestyles have changed so drastically that sleeping before 3:00 am does not exist nor does eating homemade food on a regular basis . Due to all these reasons our health is at stake and we land up in trouble. One of the consequences of this hazardous lifestyle is PCOD/PCOS , hence PCOD is considered as a lifestyle disorder. Among a group of 5 friends at least 2 of them suffer from PCOD and the number of PCOD cases is increasing rapidly day by day.

So, lets first get to know what can be the triggering factors which can cause PCOD

1) Obesity

2) Constant stress , worries , anxiety.

3) Sedentary lifestyle , not working out on a regular basis.

4)Eating junk food , oily and fatty food.

5) Intake of alcohol on a regular basis or in excessive amount

6) Smoking 

7) Genetic factors , that is a mother who has suffered from PCOD before can pass it on to her daughter.

Now , lets find out what actually happens in PCOD and what are the symptoms or changes you might notice in your body.

There are changes in the ovaries present that is the ovaries get enlarged in size and small follicles/cysts develop around these ovaries. These changes might start after puberty itself in some girls , but the symptoms appear after a long period of time. So in such cases first few periods are regular but later they start getting irregular.

1) IRREGULAR MENSES

This problem can differ in each and every girl. In some girls there is oligomenorrhea that is normally periods occur every 28-31 days but in oligomenorrhea it changes to more than 90 days.

There might be excessive heavy bleeding during menses with dysmenorrhea that is pain in abdomen  during or before menses.

You might even suffer from excessive heavy menstruation which occurs every 15 days instead of normal cycles of 28-31 days.

Instead of heavy blood flow there can be even scanty bleeding present.

2) HIRSUTISM

Hirsutism means growth of male type facial hair in women . This happens due to hyperandrogenism that is the levels of androgens which are present in a high amount in males and have to be low in a female body start increasing in number and hence there is male type facial hair present in females suffering from PCOD.

3) ACNE

Excessive amount of acne can start developing over the face and reason is same as before that is hyperandrogenism.

4) BALDNESS

Male type baldness is also seen in women suffering from PCOD.

5) ACANTHOSIS NIGRA

Acanthosis nigra is a condition were there is blackish discolouration present around the nape of neck that is the backside of the neck or in the axilla and below the breasts. This happens because of hyperinsulinaemia which means there is excess insulin production in the body than the normal range.

6) OBESITY

As I said before that obesity can be one of the reason that can cause PCOD but its even the other way round that is PCOD can cause obesity as well . You might start noticing your hip and waistline increasing in size very rapidly.

Even if the symptoms and changes are very few but ignoring these and not treating them at a proper time can increase the risk of Infertility in women. Infertility is when a woman cannot conceive even after repeated sexual intercourse.

Along with Infertility there are other risk factors as well such as 

1) Diabetes

2) Hypertension

3) Endometrial cancer

4) Thyroid problems

These issues come up later in life in elderly women mostly above age of 45 suffering from PCOD.

In younger girls even the symptoms of PMS might increase in intensity due to PCOD.

The amount of effect PCOD has on your body , it has the same effect on your mind as well.

First we only discussed about the physical symptoms which girls might experience due to PCOD , but now let's see what mental changes or symptoms might be present due to PCOD.

In today's world many of us are focused on the way we look , the way our skin is and we all want to look beautiful as well , specially due to social media this obsession of looking perfect has increased. 

Now as we have seen that due to PCOD there is facial hair growth and sometimes it tends to become really embarrassing for girls to go through this problem , plus the amount of acne present on the skin adds up to this problem and increasing of weight as well. Due to this reason some girls might start developing inferiority complex , low self confidence and low self esteem.

Due to these reasons some of us might start avoiding going out with friends or attending family functions etc

 It can lead to anxiety issues as well as depression.

Girls/ Women diagnosed with PCOD tend to have low levels of serotonin as compared to girls without PCOD.

Another reason which can lead to anxiety issues is the fear of infertility. As we know that PCOD can cause infertility many women start worrying about conceiving.

Questions such as , will I ever get pregnant? What if I cannot have kids in the future? can lead to severe anxiety issues.

This is how PCOD can have a huge impact on your mind as well as your body.

 Ways you can reduce these symptoms and ways you can keep PCOD at bay!

1) Quit smoking

2) Decrease your alcohol intake.

3) Start working out on a regular basis. You can try with yoga and meditation as well , as it can help you cope up with anxiety issues as well as depression.

4) Start eating healthy as well as home made food.

As PCOD is considered a lifestyle disorder , you can reduce the symptoms by changing your lifestyle. You can keep yourself healthy to avoid this issue. There are other medications as well which can help with PCOD.