Facts on PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome). Tips on dealing with it

In very simple terms, PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome is a genetic problem with various hormonal manifestations. It presents with a rainbow of symptoms like difficulty in losing weight, tendency to gain weight around the waist (belly), regular or sometimes grossly delayed periods, excess facial hair, acne, difficulty in conceiving, recurrent miscarriages, etc. It is not necessary that one must have all these symptoms or problems together. While some patients may have recurrent miscarriages, others may have had children easily but battle delayed periods and weight gain.

PCOS is the most common cause of menstrual irregularities in woman in the age group of 15 to 45 years. In the women suffering either from infertility, recurrent miscarriage, or weight gain, PCOS is responsible for 50% of the problems. This is not something that has suddenly evolved now. It has been there for years but definitely the incidence has increased maybe because of our food habits, lifestyle changes, or rising environmental pollution. Our ability to diagnose this problem has also improved with the coming of transvaginal ultrasound. Ultrasound done with a full bladder may miss the diagnosis in most cases of PCOS.

The ultrasound feature of PCOS will remain from 'womb to tomb', from the time you are born till the time you die. Yes it may not show all its features in the initial stages. That is why some patients may have had children (and had regular periods until then) but with the increase in weight, suddenly will start having delayed periods thereafter.

Doctors say that woman who have PCOS have a high risk of getting diabetes and they suggest a medicine to be taken daily. It is true that women with PCOS are more susceptible to diabetes because women with PCOS have an increased risk of being glucose intolerant. They can develop diabetes early in life and develop diabetes when pregnant which is known gestational diabetes in medical terminology and have a 50% chance of developing diabetes after the age of 40. Preventive measures like weight loss and diet modification should thus be started at an early age.

Allopathy treats the condition on lines of hormonal imbalance and the major treatment includes HRT (hormone replacement therapy) where subsequent hormones are administered after proper evaluation of the patient. Apart from that, diet and certain exercises are also recommended. Apart from that, there is a growing belief that PCOS occurs due to malfunction of the hormone insulin and hence diabetic drugs like metformin may also be prescribed by your doctor for the same. Surgery is also an option exercised where the ovary is punctured or the cystic tissue above the ovary is destroyed for better hormonal gain. However, all these have their own aftereffects and you must evaluate all options about it by talking with your gynecologist and personally researching on the net. This rule not only applies to allopathy but also to other streams of medicine as after all it is your body.

In taking hormones, it further depletes your endocrinal system and puts them in sleep. The stuff that has to be naturally released by the body, once delivered with artificial means puts the body in a lazy mode. The HRT treatment may give you good results but is not recommended in long run as it can cause other problems.

Now taking in account the above-mentioned treatment modalities, we can place a pattern for proper evaluation and treatment modalities for PCOS.

1. Eat at regular intervals. For example, if you have breakfast, lunch, and dinner between 8 to 9, 12 to 2 and 8 to 9 respectively, see to it that you follow these timings as the thyroid gland become trained to secrete juices in these times. Any variations and it puts pressure on the glands. Doesn't matter even if you gulp down a glass of milk, but the timings must be maintained.

2. Salt restriction is another major aspect. Prepare food without salt. Take as much as you want in the plate (only one helping) then add salt to taste. Prefer saindhav salt (Himalayan crystal salt).

3. Have a papaya for breakfast/dinner at least 2-3 times a week until your cycles regularize. Apart from that also intake porridge prepared from Ragi extract (nachini, Eleusine coracana). prefer crystal sugar (Khadisakhar, Mishri) for taste instead of normal sugar. Weight watchers can prefer sugar substitutes however crystal sugar is very safe.

4. Avoid sleeping after lunch. Have a glass of buttermilk (prepared without salt).

5. Stay away from direct/indirect use of the following items; Brinjals, Peas, Peanuts, cauliflower, seafood, pickles, curds (buttermilk is okay), green chilies, mustard, bakery products (pastries okay).

Finally I am listing some simple herbal decoctions, which if taken over a period of 2 to 3 months will definitely help:

1. Buy Ashwagandha roots (Withania somnifera; entire about 150 grams), Arjun bark (Terminalia arjuna; about 70 grams) from a local herb shop. Divide both of these into 30 equal parts. Now boil 1 part every morning in 3 cups of water (approximately 150 ml) and reduce to 1 cup. Now filter this mixture and add 1 cup of cow's milk to it. Boil the mixture again over a low flame until milk remains. Add 2 cardamoms while boiling. Consume this milk early morning empty stomach. Little sugar can be added for taste. The remaining filtrate of Ashwagandha and Arjun can be used similarly in evening. During summer months, Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus var. javanica) can be substituted for Ashwagandha.

2. After 30 days or 35 days if the periods do not commence have the following mixture for 3 days, 10 grams Nagkeshar (Mesua ferra flower stamens), 10 gms crystal sugar (Khadisakhar, Mishri) and 10 gms Cow's ghee (clarified butter from cow), it must be mixed and consumed with milk once a day. The above combination is for one day. If the periods do not commence even after this medicine, then do not worry. Keep taking the above medicine. Eventually they will come and with proper ovulation.

The above simple remedy coupled with diet will definitely help and let you lead a normal menstrual life with kids and no infertility. In case you feel you need to evaluate this option more, try and consult a good Ayurveda physician. Having customized and specialized treatments will help you gain more. For example:

1. Generic preparations like Ashwagandharishta, Ashokarishta, Kumaryasava, Chandraprabha Vati, Pushyanug churna, Phal Ghrita, Raupya Bhasma, Vang Bhasma, Abrakh Bhasma, etc. may be advised by your Ayurveda doctor (You can check how these medicines are prepared along with contents at http://nlam.in [NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AYURVEDA MEDICINE]).

2. Panchakarma techniques like Basti, Uttar Basti, Vaman, Virechana, Nasya are also undertaken.

3. Certain yogic exercises like Simhasan, Vajrasan, Shalabhasan, Sarvangasan are also helpful and may be coupled with the above medicines.

Besides the above remedies, the simple Ayurveda method to check if the periods are adulatory and with proper hormonal functions is to take a few drops of menstrual blood on a clean white cloth and wait for few seconds. Now wash the cloth with plain warm water (no soap, detergents) and observe if it leaves a pickle like stain. Clean periods as per Ayurveda must not leave stain on the cloth. Once you achieve that, you can then try conception.