PCOS: Losing weight can help – Dainik Savera Times

Oxford: It is believed that 20 percent of women worldwide are affected by Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal condition that affects the way the ovaries function. The condition is so common and has such a serious impact on women’s health, yet researchers still can’t say with confidence what causes PCOS—let alone its treatment.

Along with taking hormonal therapy, most guidance says losing weight is one of the best ways to deal with PCOS. Even a mere four percent reduction in body weight has shown improvement in symptoms. Losing weight can also reduce the risk of more serious health problems related to excess weight, such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and difficulty breathing during sleep. But the hormonal imbalance associated with PCOS can make it difficult for women to lose weight.

Historically low funding for PCOS-focused research also means that there is a severe lack of reliable, evidence-based guidance to find out what are the best ways to lose weight and what might improve PCOS symptoms as a result. . This leads many women to turn to the Internet where diet advice is abundant. But sometimes this information is misleading.

Social media and PCOS:

There are almost half a million posts on Instagram with the ‘PCOS diet’ hashtag. Many videos with this hashtag have been viewed more than 47 crore times on TikTok. Just scroll through this hashtag for 30 seconds and you’ll find dozens of posts with contradictory information from self-proclaimed “experts.” Many posts will contain lifestyle, diet or exercise advice that promises to improve symptoms and even cure PCOS. Of these, only a very small portion (1.4 per cent) of posts are estimated to be made by registered dietitians. Social media can help people with PCOS, but many women find the way social media portrays weight loss as easy to achieve with the right diet or exercise is discouraging.

Need for research:

The lack of accurate information about weight loss for people with PCOS is largely due to the historical lack of access to women’s health research. Over the past decade, research funding allocated for PCOS has been less than half of that allocated for research into diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (a long-term inflammatory disorder that can affect parts other than the joints). Research is needed to determine if losing weight is one of the best steps to combat PCOS symptoms or whether we risk allowing women to rely on more dubious online sources. We need to provide high-quality evidence to provide dietary options to women with PCOS so they can decide the best diet for them.