Acne and hairiness, be on the lookout for polycystic ovary syndrome!

Case: Ms. Chen, a fat girl, has been having irregular periods in recent years and loves to have acne on her face. Some friends around her told her that she would be fine after having children. However, after Ms. Chen got married and had a child the year before last, the situation still did not improve. What surprised her even more was that she didn’t know when she started to grow a light beard quietly around her lips. She went to the hospital and was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) after a systematic examination. Polycystic ovary syndrome is a very common metabolic disease of endocrine disorders in women of childbearing age, which mainly manifests itself in irregular menstruation, infertility, hirsutism, obesity and other symptoms, and can also cause diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, endometrial hyperplasia, and even endometrial cancer and other long-term complications, so it should be alarmed. Clinical findings, many women from the onset of menstruation to childbearing age, have varying degrees of symptoms of menstrual disorders, infertility of women are also increasing. Some women, not only to get rid of the “fat girl” nickname and efforts, but also long-term “war acne”, and even some women in the lips, breasts, arms, thighs, or the body in the midline and other parts of the hair appeared a lot. When women find themselves irregular menstruation, infertility, hairy, obesity and other symptoms, we should be highly vigilant polycystic ovary syndrome. Clinically, when some patients hear that they have polycystic ovary syndrome, their first reaction is surprised: “Doctor, are you saying that I have grown several ovaries?” In fact, this kind of thinking is completely wrong. Polycystic ovary syndrome is mainly due to the effects of mental stress, drug effects or certain diseases, which make the hypothalamus secrete gonadotropin-releasing hormone out of cycle, so that the pituitary gland secretes an imbalance in the ratio of gonadotropins. Although the follicles develop, they do not mature and do not ovulate, and over time many cystic follicles are created, which eventually turn the ovaries into grape-like polycystic ovaries. This is called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) because it is a multifactorial and heterogeneous disease. How do I know if I have polycystic ovaries? Usually, a physical examination is done first to measure height, weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, etc. to evaluate the condition by calculating the body mass index; then an endocrine examination is done on the third day of menstruation; and an ultrasound is done after menstruation is cleared. At the same time, blood glucose, insulin and blood lipids will also be checked to understand the patient’s metabolism and predict whether diabetes and other complications will occur in the future. For the patient, it is not only necessary to solve her current problems such as irregular menstruation and acne, but also to pay more attention to whether she will have complications such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease or even endometrial cancer. In terms of treatment, individualized treatment is needed as each patient has different conditions, different needs and different sensitivities to drugs. For obese patients, it is necessary to strengthen exercise, reasonable diet and weight control; for patients with menstrual irregularities, drugs can be used to help establish a regular menstrual cycle, as well as to improve the symptoms of hirsuteness, acne, etc.; for patients with concomitant elevated blood glucose and insulin, drugs are needed to improve blood glucose; and for patients who are infertile, some ovulation-promoting drugs need to be used.