Polycystic ovary syndrome and depression

Could PCOS Be Causing Your Depression Problems?

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most mysterious and difficult of all problems facing the gynecologist and endocrinologist in their practice. First, because by themselves polycystic ovaries is not a disease but a syndrome, that results in a set of different disorders such as; depression, infertility, miscarriage, obesity, acne and hirsutism.

Why do women with PCOS are more prone to depression? Should be concerned?

The women, suffering from the polycystic ovary syndrome are estimated to have a medical condition, such as depressive disorders, according to a study conducted in the United States of America. The polycystic ovary syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder in women of childbearing age and it is associated with several complications involving the metabolic. Some studies conducted on this topic suggest that there is an increased risk of depression in these patients but the size and the methodology of these studies make the results unreliable. Elizabeth and Hollinrake, along with their colleagues at the University of Iowa compared a research conducted on 103 women with this syndrome, along 103 other women which were unharmed of this disease. They conducted an annual review of both the groups to find out the difference between the metabolic of the women suffering from PCOS. A new diagnosis of depression according to DSM-IV was made ??in 21% of patients against 3% of controls, or a risk of detecting depression 5.11 times higher in case of polycystic ovary syndrome.

The total number of depression cases (new and old) was 35% against 10.7%, a 4.23-fold increased risk in patients with polycystic ovary syndrome. This risk was independent of infertility, depression and obesity. But compared to patients with polycystic ovary syndrome without depression, those who were depressed had a body mass index (weight ratio of the square of height) higher and were more often insulin resistant. "Because the peak incidence of depression is during the years when the woman is of childbearing age, gynecologists were the first to identify and treat women with polycystic ovary syndrome and depression," the authors wrote in their research. "Therefore, we recommend that women with polycystic ovary syndrome are routinely screened and treated appropriately for depressive disorders,”

The short story

More than two thirds of women who are suffering from PCOS also suffer from some level of depression, research suggests. L. Barnard (University of Leeds, UK) and colleagues studied the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of 1359 women with and without PCOS using a modified questionnaire. The team reports that women suffering from PCOS were found to be more depressed than the control group. In total, 71 percent of women with PCOS who on the advice of doctors were on anti-androgenic, along with 67 percent of those not receiving these drugs were classified as depressed. Seven factors were related to quality of life of women with PCOS: hirsutim, emotional disturbance, menstrual symptoms, infertility, and acne. However, many researchers suggest that excessive weight hugely contributes in reducing the quality of life among women, although concerns were more severe ...