Exploration of ovarian hormones, diet and lifestyle of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome

Author: 
Stephanie Mohammed and B Shivananda Nayak

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) is an endocrine disorder made known to affect 4-18% of reproductive women worldwide. It is observed to have associations with metabolic syndromes, psychological mentality and reproductive organs in women. We investigated a case control study to compare the significance of LH, FSH and testosterone among women with and without PCOS. We also compared a simple dietary and lifestyle pattern. A total of 124 Patients were recruited from the Women’s Hospital of North Central Regional Health Authority of Trinidad and Tobago. Upon consent women were asked to complete a semi-structured and rating questionnaire. Blood samples were then collected and analysed for LH, FSH and testosterone levels.
Sixty-two women with PCOS were eligible as they met the inclusion criteria and were compared with 62 controls. The mean age of women with PCOS was 27.21 ± 6.538 when compared to 29.64 ± 7.534 without PCOS at p=0.114. There were significant differences among the groups for the levels of LH (p=0.004) and testosterone (p=0.002). The mean ratio of LH/FSH was twicethe level in women with PCOS compared to the normal. Our study showed that women with PCOS consumed significantly more cakes (p=0.036), ice-cream (p=0.029), tea (p=0.006) and fast food (p=0.055) at least twice a week when compared to normal women. Chi-square testing showed that there was a significant difference in abdominal pain experienced by women with and without PCOS. The significance of abdominal pain experienced among the groups showed to be X² (2, N=124) = 6.76 p=0. Among the study participants 23% took no medications, 14% on hormonal treatment and 5% were on anticoagulant therapy.

Conclusion: Our findings concluded that LH, FSH and testosterone are good clinical parameters that can be used for diagnostic testing of PCOS. We also conclude that abdominal pain, lack of exercise, and unhealthy diets are some of the characteristic features that women with PCOS may exhibit.

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