When singer Chrisette Michele was featured in EBONY’s “Body Brigade” issue in March, she and her fellow full-figured bombshells dished intimate details of their lives. Amid the candid discussion was a moment of education, as the ladies were asked whether they’ve dealt with weight-related illnesses.
Michele revealed that she has been living with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), ”It’s definitely something I have to stay on top of,” she said.
The fact is PCOS is prevalent. Between 5% and 10% of women of reproductive age (18–44) are affected, and as many as 5 million women in the U.S. may suffer from it. According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, PCOS may affect girls as young as 11 who haven’t even had their first period.
For a condition that is increasingly common, estimates suggest less than 50% of women have been diagnosed. Whether you have it or have never heard of it, the question remains: What exactly is PCOS? That’s a straightforward question with a puzzling answer.
“PCOS is part of a constellation of symptoms,” says Dr. Shannon Clark, associate professor in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at UTMB-Galveston in Galveston, Texas.
“I think the most prevalent ones, or the ones that women probably pay attention to the most, are the problems that they start to have with their menstrual cycles,” she says. “They may be irregular; they may go months and not have one; they may have a couple in a month.”
Other symptoms will be more cosmetic. There might be skin changes, such as acne in atypical places. There might be hair loss or hirsutism — hair on areas of the body that are abnormal for females. This could be because women with PCOS are described as hyperandrogenic, meaning there are elevated levels of androgen, commonly known as testosterone.
The symptoms don’t end there. Infertility, low sex drive, mood swings, anxiety, and depression are pervasive. Insulin resistance is so common in women with PCOS that metformin is one of the first methods of treatment doctors tend to prescribe, a drug that helps increase the body’s sensitivity to insulin. This is why PCOS can sometimes be misdiagnosed as diabetes.
So if PCOS presents itself in so many ways, why did Michele say it was weight-related? Well, there has been a correlation: Up to 80% of women with PCOS are obese.
With such a dizzying array of symptoms, it’s easy to see why the syndrome is underdiagnosed. Many women say that even when they receive a diagnosis, their doctors do not equip them with enough information to tackle these myriad issues. So women are mobilizing online to help each other.
To read more: http://www.ebony.com/wellness-empowerment/black-women-health-pcos
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