Did you know that children of mothers with PCOS are 31% more likely to be admitted to the hospital for infectious diseases and 47% more likely to be admitted for allergy-related problems?

PCOS is the most common endocrine disease in women of reproductive age. Common symptoms include acne, irregular periods, or amenorrhea (loss of period). PCOS may also lead to insulin resistance, which is one of the main targets of PCOS therapy.

Yet it is relatively difficult to diagnose due to a lack of standard diagnostic criteria – this poses a risk not only to the women themselves, but as a recent study published in Human Reproduction, one of the world’s leading reproductive medicine journals, looking at 1,038,375 children born in Quebec, Canada, between 2006 and 2020 – to the children of the mothers themselves.

The risk of hospitalization was increased for problems relating to metabolism (up by 59%), the gut (72%), central nervous system (74%), and ears (34%); it was also increased for respiratory problems, such as pneumonia (32%).

It is why we should consider treating #PCOS much earlier on than simply when women are actively trying to conceive. In the words of Dr Nathalie Auger, associate professor of epidemiology at the School of Public Health, University of Montreal, Canada, who led the study:”Primary care doctors and obstetricians should consider identifying women with PCOS before conception and offering early interventions such as weight management and strategies to help prevent problems such as diabetes and heart and blood vessel diseases.”

Alongside the common treatment of PCOS such as lifestyle modifications (exercise and diet) an emerging treatment option is dietary supplements. There is some emerging evidence for their beneficial effects of magnesium and vitamin E on insulin metabolic parameters and markers of cardio-metabolic risk. Omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E co-supplementation have also been shown to improve insulin resistance and other hormone levels.

Just another reason why intervening earlier on in the lifecycle of women is so important. Are you a researcher or clinician working in the field of PCOS or a PCOS startup? We’d love to hear what you’re working on at : contact@femtechnology.org 

To read a little bit more about our thoughts on PCOS – check out our piece on why we talked about PCOS at our Spring 2022 Summit:  https://femtechnology.org/2021/11/19/heres-why-well-be-talking-about-pcos-at-the-summit/

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