A team of researchers from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently released a study that suggests women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), one of the main causes of infertility, may also have an adrenal disorder that releases too many adrenal hormones.
PCOS is detected through several symptoms that are connected to higher levels of androgen hormones. For women with PCOS, their ovaries have multiple small sacs that resemble cysts. These women experience irregular, prolonged or missing menstrual periods, excessive body and facial hair, fertility challenges and insulin resistance.
The study suggests that potential treatments and therapies would include oral contraceptives, which include progesterone and estrogen hormones, and drugs that inhibit androgens.
Previous studies suggested that PCOS patients had too much androgen because of their adrenal glands. After testing the adrenal functions of PCOS patients in the research, this latest study suggests that the androgens are from the ovaries instead.
“Traditionally, treatment for PCOS has included modifying ovarian hormones,” Constantine Stratakis, director of intramural research at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and senior author of the study, said. “Our findings indicate that a subgroup of patients could conceivably benefit from modification of adrenal hormones as well.”
