Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - Symptoms & Natural Solution

 

What is PCOS?

PCOS is a condition in which a woman’s ovaries and, in some cases the adrenal glands, produce more androgens (a type of hormone) than normal. High levels of these hormones interfere with the development and release of eggs as part of ovulation. As a result, fluid-filled sacs or cysts can develop on the ovaries. Because women with PCOS do not release eggs during ovulation, PCOS is the most common cause of female infertility.

How does PCOS affect fertility?

A woman's ovaries have follicles, which are tiny, fluid-filled sacs that hold the eggs. When an egg is mature, the follicle breaks open to release the egg so it can travel to the uterus for fertilization. In women with PCOS, immature follicles bunch together to form large cysts or lumps. The eggs mature within the bunched follicles, but the follicles don't break open to release them.
As a result, women with PCOS often have menstrual irregularities, such as amenorrhea (they don’t get menstrual periods) or oligomenorrhea (they only have periods now and then). Because the eggs are not released, most women with PCOS have trouble getting pregnant.

What are the symptoms of PCOS?

In addition to infertility, women with PCOS may also have:

• Pelvic pain
• Hirsutism, or excess hair growth on the face, chest, stomach, thumbs, or toes
• Male-pattern baldness or thinning hair
• Acne, oily skin, or dandruff
• Patches of thickened and dark brown or black skin

Also, women who are obese are more likely to have PCOS.
Although it is hard for women with PCOS to get pregnant, some do get pregnant, naturally or using assistive reproductive technology. Women with PCOS are at higher risk for miscarriage if they do become pregnant.
Women with PCOS are also at higher risk for associated conditions, such as:

• Diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome—sometimes called a precursor to diabetes, this syndrome indicates that the body has trouble regulating its insulin
• Cardiovascular disease—including heart disease and high blood pressure

What is the treatment for PCOS?

There is no cure for PCOS, but many of the symptoms can often be managed. It is important to have PCOS diagnosed and treated early to help prevent associated problems. There are medications that can help control the symptoms, such as birth control pills to regulate menstruation, reduce androgen levels, and clear acne. Other medications can reduce cosmetic problems, such as hair growth, and control blood pressure and cholesterol.
Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise can aid weight loss and help reduce blood sugar levels and regulate insulin levels more effectively. Weight loss can help lessen many of the health conditions associated with PCOS and can make symptoms be less severe or even disappear.
Surgical treatment may also be an option, but it is not recommended as the first course of treatment.
NICHD-funded research has also examined the effects of the anti-diabetes drug metformin on fertility in women with PCOS. To learn more about this research, check out the news releases about PCOS.

How is PCOS diagnosed?

Your health care provider will take a medical history and do a pelvic exam to feel for cysts on your ovaries. He or she may also do a vaginal ultrasound and recommend blood tests to measure hormone levels. Other tests may include measuring levels of insulin, glucose, cholesterol, and triglycerides.

The NATURAL SOLUTION
If you are dealing with the symptoms of PCOS, then try the natural solution to address high cholesterol, triglycerides, high blood sugar and obesity - BIOS LIFE SLIM. It's the only natural solution that is listed in the Physicians Desk Reference to address these major health matters. For more information on how you can TAKE BACK YOUR HEALTH - contact me:

Pamela Taylor
Unicity Inc. Franchise Owner - Makers of Bios Life Slim and Matcha
Franchise # 108573501
Phone:312-324-4914
Email: 4HealthyLifeNow@gmail.com
Website: http://www.my.unicity.net/pamelataylor

Follow me on Twitter & Facebook: 4healthylifenow

Source: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/health/topics/Polycystic_Ovary_Syndrome.cfm


 

Top 10 Myths about Cardiovascular Disease

In light of Rosie O'Donnell's recent Heart Attack and the death of a co-worker and Michael Clark Duncan from Heart Disease, I decided to find a resource article to help everyone understand the gravity of heart disease and to help you learn what YOU CAN DO to prevent this illness. My prayers go out to everyone affected by Heart Disease and I cherish loving memories of those individuals that have fought the good fight and are now in their Heavenly Home. Namaste.


Article from American Heart Association - Heart.org

How much do you really know about your heart’s health? It’s easy to be fooled by misconceptions. After all, heart disease only happens to your elderly neighbor or to your fried food-loving uncle, right? Or do you know the real truth – that heart disease can affect people of any age, even those who eat right?
Relying on false assumptions can be dangerous to your heart. Cardiovascular disease kills more Americans each year than any other disease. But you can boost your heart smarts by separating fact from fiction. Let’s set the record straight on some common myths.

1.“I’m too young to worry about heart disease.” How you live now affects your risk for cardiovascular diseases later in life. As early as childhood and adolescence, plaque can start accumulating in the arteries and later lead to clogged arteries. One in three Americans has cardiovascular disease, but not all of them are senior citizens. Even young and middle-aged people can develop heart problems – especially now that obesity, type 2 diabetes and other risk factors are becoming more common at a younger age.

2.“I’d know if I had high blood pressure because there would be warning signs.” High blood pressure is called the “silent killer” because you don’t usually know you have it. You may never experience symptoms, so don’t wait for your body to alert you that there’s a problem. The way to know if you have high blood pressure is to check your numbers with a simple blood pressure test. Early treatment of high blood pressure is critical because, if left untreated, it can cause heart attack, stroke, kidney damage and other serious health problems. Learn how high blood pressure is diagnosed.

3. “I’ll know when I’m having a heart attack because I’ll have chest pain.” Not necessarily. Although it’s common to have chest pain or discomfort, a heart attack may cause subtle symptoms. These include shortness of breath, nausea, feeling lightheaded, and pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the jaw, neck or back. Even if you’re not sure it’s a heart attack, call 9-1-1 immediately. Learn you risk of heart attack today!

4.“Diabetes won’t threaten my heart as long as I take my medication.” Treating diabetes can help reduce your risk for or delay the development of cardiovascular diseases. But even when blood sugar levels are under control, you’re still at increased risk for heart disease and stroke. That’s because the risk factors that contribute to diabetes onset also make you more likely to develop cardiovascular disease. These overlapping risk factors include high blood pressure, overweight and obesity, physical inactivity and smoking.

5.“Heart disease runs in my family, so there’s nothing I can do to prevent it.” Although people with a family history of heart disease are at higher risk, you can take steps to dramatically reduce your risk. Create an action plan to keep your heart healthy by tackling these to-dos: get active; control cholesterol; eat better; manage blood pressure; maintain a healthy weight; control blood sugar; and stop smoking.


6.“I don’t need to have my cholesterol checked until I’m middle-aged.” The American Heart Association recommends you start getting your cholesterol checked at age 20. It’s a good idea to start having a cholesterol test even earlier if your family has a history of heart disease. Children in these families can have high cholesterol levels, putting them at increased risk for developing heart disease as adults. You can help yourself and your family by eating a healthy diet and exercising regularly.

7.“Heart failure means the heart stops beating.” The heart suddenly stops beating during cardiac arrest, not heart failure. With heart failure, the heart keeps working, but it doesn’t pump blood as well as it should. It can cause shortness of breath, swelling in the feet and ankles or persistent coughing and wheezing. During cardiac arrest, a person loses consciousness and stops normal breathing.

8.“This pain in my legs must be a sign of aging. I’m sure it has nothing to do with my heart.” Leg pain felt in the muscles could be a sign of a condition called peripheral artery disease. PAD results from blocked arteries in the legs caused by plaque buildup. The risk for heart attack or stroke increases five-fold for people with PAD.

9.“My heart is beating really fast. I must be having a heart attack.” Some variation in your heart rate is normal. Your heart rate speeds up during exercise or when you get excited, and slows down when you’re sleeping. Most of the time, a change in your heartbeat is nothing to worry about. But sometimes, it can be a sign of arrhythmia, an abnormal or irregular heartbeat. Most arrhythmias are harmless, but some can last long enough to impact how well the heart works and require treatment.

10.“I should avoid exercise after having a heart attack.” No! As soon as possible, get moving with a plan approved for you! Research shows that heart attack survivors who are regularly physically active and make other heart-healthy changes live longer than those who don’t. People with chronic conditions typically find that moderate-intensity activity is safe and beneficial. The American Heart Association recommends at least two and a half hours of moderate intensity physical activity each week. Find the help you need by joining a cardiac rehabilitation program, or consult your healthcare provider for advice on developing a physical activity plan tailored to your needs.

Source: American Heart Association

Keep Your Kid's Cholesterol in Check

By BELINDA WALKER - July 12, 2010

Should all children be screened for high cholesterol?

That's the suggestion of a study out of West Virginia that found that a family history alone isn't sufficient to catch high cholesterol among children.

In analyzing results from family histories and fasting lipid tests of more than 20,000 West Virginia youngsters, researchers found that 71 percent of them met guidelines for cholesterol screening based on family history.

But it said that a third of children whose cholesterol levels were high enough to merit treatment were being missed by guidelines so dependent upon family history. The study concludes that many youngsters could benefit from universal cholesterol screening that would allow for early diagnosis.

However Dr. Richard Besser, ABC News' senior health and medical editor for ABC News, is cautious of the study. He said the study did not take into account obesity levels and that we should be careful putting young children on medication they may have to use for the rest of their lives.

Besser suggests the emphasis should be on obesity prevention and the promotion of healthy eating habits and exercise for the whole family since weight loss and exercise is one way to reduce cholesterol without medication.


Tips to Keep Your Kids' Cholesterol Down

"Good Morning America" gathered some good cholesterol wrangling tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and WebMD:

-Make sure you know your family history.

-Exercise regularly. According to the CDC, children and adolescents should do 60 minutes (1 hour) or more of physical activity each day.

-Make sure your children eat foods low in total fat, saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol.

-Select a variety of foods so your child can get all the nutrients he or she needs.


Some Healthy Meal Options:

Breakfast: Fruit, cereal, oatmeal and low-fat yogurt are among the good choices for breakfast foods. Use skim or 1 percent milk rather than whole or 2 percent milk (after age 2, or as recommended by your doctor).

Lunch and Dinner: Increase vegetable consumption and cut back on meats. In fact, you can join the Meatless Monday movement! Cutting meats out of your diet at least one day each week can cut down on your fat intake and will make room for more nutrient-rich vegetables.

Bake or grill foods instead of frying them. Use whole-grain breads and rolls to make a healthier sandwich. Also, give your child whole-grain crackers with soups, chili, and stew. Prepare pasta, beans, rice, fish, skinless poultry or other dishes. Always serve fresh fruit (with the skin) with meals.

Snacks: Fruits, vegetables, breads and cereals make great snacks for children. Children should avoid soda and fruit drinks.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/OnCall/dr-richard-besser-kids-cholesterol-check/story?id=11139963

Diabetes Drugs and Elevated Cancer Risk: More Evidence

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Stone Hearth News


A popular class of diabetes drugs increases patients’ risk of bladder cancer, according to a new study published online this month in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found that patients taking thiazolidinedione (TZDs) drugs – which account for up to 20 percent of the drugs prescribed to diabetics in the United States — are two to three times more likely to develop bladder cancer than those who took a sulfonylurea drug, another common class of medications for diabetes.

The authors say the findings are especially important since diabetic patients are known to already be at a slightly increased risk of this type of cancer as compared to the generation population, in which about 30 in 100,000 people develop bladder cancer. Among diabetes patients overall, the incidence of this cancer is typically about 40 out of 100,000.

The authors of the new study analyzed 60,000 Type 2 diabetes patients from the Health Improvement Network (THIN) database in the United Kingdom. They found that patients treated with the TZD drugs pioglitazone (Actos) or rosiglitzaone (Avandia) for five or more years had a two-to-three-fold increase in risk of developing bladder cancer when compared to those who took sulfonylurea drugs. Among patients taking TZDs for that length of time, the team’s analysis indicates that 170 patients per 100,000 would be expected to develop the disease. About 60 in 100,000 of those who take sulfonylurea drugs – such as glipizide (Glucotrol) — would be expected to develop bladder cancer.

“Diabetes is one the most common chronic diseases worldwide, affecting 285 million people. There are many factors clinicians must weigh in deciding which drug to use to control a patient’s diabetes, and these new data provide important information to include in that decision-making process,” said the study’s lead author, Ronac Mamtani, MD, an instructor in the division of Hematology-Oncology in Penn’s Abramson Cancer Center. “Our study shows that doctors who care for patients with diabetes should be very aware of any bladder-related symptoms patients might be having, like blood in the urine, and take steps to further evaluate those issues.”


Though most patients in the United States no longer take Avandia since it was linked to severe cardiovascular problems, Actos is the ninth most commonly prescribed drug in the nation, accounting for some 15 million prescriptions each year. The drug is a common choice when Type 2 diabetes patients’ illnesses can no longer be controlled with the first-line diabetes drug Metformin.

Based on previous data examining safety risks among patients taking Actos, the FDA has already warned that it may be associated with a risk of bladder cancer, and France and Germany have removed the drug from their markets. The new findings add to mounting evidence against the entire class of TZDs, as one of the first studies examining this type of risk among people taking both types of TZDs and among those taking sulfonylurea drugs.

“The risk does seem to be common among both drugs in the TZD class, and the fact that we have compared bladder cancer risk among patients taking each of those drugs provides essential information, because a safety warning on a drug is only useful to a doctor when they have knowledge of the same risks for an alternative drug,” Mamtani says. “We believe our study will help doctors and their patients weigh the potential benefits and risks when selecting between different diabetes medication.”

http://www.stonehearthnewsletters.com/diabetes-drugs-and-elevated-cancer-risk-more-evidence/diabetes/

Diabetes Hits Women Hard at Menopause: Beat It Back

Article from The North American Menopause Society


Diabetes hits women hard, especially at midlife. In the United States, it’s the number 6 killer of women ages 45 to 54 and the number 4 killer of women ages 55 to 64. What’s more, diabetes increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, and many other serious conditions, including blindness, kidney disease, and nerve disease.

Diabetes is on the rise in the United States. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 1 in 10 US adults has diabetes now, and if current trends continue, that figure could rise to 1 in 3 by 2050. The increase is nearly all because of the rise of type 2 diabetes, which is most common in obese people age 40 and older. (Type 1 diabetes is much less common and usually starts in childhood or adolescence.) A huge proportion of US adults—more than a third of all of them and half over age 65—have prediabetes, and thus are poised to develop the full-blown disease.

Does menopause increase diabetes risk? That hasn’t been an easy question for researchers to answer. It’s hard to separate the effects of menopause from the effects of age and weight. But it does look like hormones do have something to do with it. If you are a woman over age 50, you’re especially vulnerable, and women pay a heavy price for the disease. They lose more years of life than men with diabetes do. In addition, the death rate for women with diabetes has risen dramatically since the 1970s, while it has not for men with the disease.

Age and overweight (or obesity) are the most common traits that make someone likely to develop type 2 diabetes. A family history of diabetes, prediabetes, minority ethnicity (Hispanic, African American, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander), high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease or abnormal cholesterol levels, and inactivity also put people at higher risk of developing diabetes. For women, having high blood pressure develop during pregnancy (called preeclampsia), diabetes during pregnancy (called gestational diabetes), or polycystic ovary syndrome raise the risk even more.

What do the experts say?

•Get tested. The CDC estimates that more than a quarter of people who have diabetes haven’t been diagnosed. The American Diabetes Association recommends that you get tested every 3 years starting at age 45, especially if you are overweight. The US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that adults with blood pressure above 135/80 be screened every 3 years. If you have some additional risks, such as a family history of diabetes, then you should get tested more frequently.

•Diet and exercise. The best way to prevent diabetes is with a healthy lifestyle. The National Institutes of Health sponsored a Diabetes Prevention Program trial, that used “intensive” lifestyle training. The participants in this large clinical trial were overweight and had prediabetes. More than two thirds of them were women, and nearly half were from an ethnic minority group. Some got intense training to change their diet, physical activity, and habits with the goal of losing just 7% of their body weight. Another group took the diabetes drug metformin and got standard advice about diet and exercise. A third group got the standard advice only. The modest but focused lifestyle change did more than anything else to prevent diabetes. It reduced the number of new diabetes cases 58% more than standard advice alone. In contrast, metformin plus standard advice didn’t do nearly as well, reducing the number of diabetes cases 31% compared with standard advice. The message is that many people can benefit from adopting such.

•Take hormone therapy (HT) to prevent diabetes? The NAMS Advisory Panel of experts who helped to develop our NAMS 2012 Hormone Therapy Position Statement say no. Although it is clear that HT can reduce the risk of developing diabetes, that shouldn’t be the reason you start taking it. If you take HT for your menopausal symptoms, it can offer benefits for diabetes prevention and for some of the complications of diabetes but it can also increase risk of stroke. Some of the large clinical trials of HT suggest that starting early—as you go through the menopause transition or shortly after that—may be less risky.

Take some healthy steps

•There are many ways to reduce your risk of diabetes and the risk of diabetes complications:
•Do weight-bearing exercise
•Exercise more in general
•Eat a healthy diet that limits sugar and fat
•Control your weight
•Limit your alcohol intake
•Increase sources of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet with fatty fish (such as mackerel, salmon, sardines) or plant-based sources (such as soy, canola oil, flax seeds, and walnuts)
•For women with osteoporosis, use of bisphosphonate medication may cut the need for insulin

source: http://www.menopause.org/for-women/-i-menopause-flashes-i-/diabetes-hits-women-hard-at-menopause-beat-it-back

The Benefits of Walking

Heart Disease Diet: Do You Have a "Wheat Belly"?

By Dr. William Davis, Health Pro

Low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, small LDL particles: the most common triad of abnormalities today behind heart disease.

Along with this pattern comes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, diabetes and pre-diabetes, increased inflammation, increasingly blood clot-prone blood. This common collection that now afflicts over 50 million Americans goes by a number of names, including metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance syndrome, and syndrome X.

But I call it “wheat belly.” Let me explain.

You've heard of "beer bellies," the protuberant, sagging abdomen of someone who drinks excessive quantities of beer.

Wheat belly is the same protuberant, sagging abdomen that develops when you overindulge in processed carbohydrates. It represents visceral fat that laces the intestines.

While nearly everyone knows that candy bars and soft drinks aren’t good for health, most Americans have allowed processed carbohydrates, but especially wheat products like pretzels, crackers, breads, waffles, pancakes, breakfast cereals and pasta, to dominate diet. I blame the extreme over-reliance on these foods for the obesity and related abnormalities: wheat belly.

How did this all come about?

Back in the 1960s, we had sandwiches on white bread, hamburgers on white flour buns, spaghetti made with bleached, enriched flour. Data from the 1970s and 1980s, however, demonstrated conclusively that using whole grains, with the bran and B-vitamins left in, was better: better for bowel health, blood pressure, cholesterol values.

Fast-forward to the 1990s and the new century, and the mantra has evolved to “eat more whole grains, eat more whole grains,” repeated by “official” organizations and propagated by countless media conversations. And Americans have complied.

But while video games, unhealthy snacks, and vending machines have been roundly blamed for the nationwide epidemic of obesity and diabetes, it’s curious that increased weight has befallen even active people who eat “healthy”: yes, plenty of whole grains.

In my view, it is the grains that are largely behind the obesity and diabetes epidemic, at least among the frustrated health-conscious.

But not all grains. Oats and flaxseed, for instance, seem to not contribute to weight and the associated patterns like small LDL.

The wife of a patient of mine who was in the hospital (one of my rare hospitalizations) balked in disbelief when I told her that her husband's 18 lb weight gain over the past 6 months was due to the whole wheat cereal for breakfast, turkey sandwiches for lunch, and whole wheat pasta for dinner.

"But that's what they told us to eat after Dan left the hospital after his last stent!"

Dan, at 260 lbs with a typical wheat belly, had small LDL, low HDL, high triglycerides, etc.

Many people, on hearing this peculiar perspective, are incredulous. “You’re nuts!” Whole grains are full of fiber and B vitamins. Everybody ‘knows’ they’re healthy!”


I thought so, too, 12 years ago when I followed a strict vegetarian, low-fat diet, rich with “healthy” whole grains. I gained 30 lbs, my HDL dropped to 27 mg/dl, triglycerides skyrocketed to 350 mg/dl, small LDL went crazy, my blood pressure was 150/90, and I developed diabetic blood sugars─while running 5 miles a day. It’s the wheat. I eliminated the wheat and promptly reversed the entire picture.

If you don't believe it, try this experiment: Eliminate all forms of wheat for a 4 week period--no breakfast cereals, no breads of any sort, no pasta, no crackers, no pretzels, etc. Instead, increase your vegetables; healthy oils; lean proteins (lean red meats, chicken, fish, turkey, eggs, Egg Beaters, yogurt and cottage cheese); raw nuts like almonds, walnuts, and pecans; and fruit. Of course, avoid fruit drinks, candy, and other garbage foods, even if they're wheat-free. (And don’t confuse this conversation with celiac disease or gluten enteropathy, an allergy to wheat gluten, an entirely different issue.)

Most people will report that a cloud has been lifted from their brain. Thinking is clearer, you have more energy, you don't lose in the afternoon, you sleep more deeply. You will notice that hunger ratchets down substantially. Most people lose the insatiable hunger pangs that occur 2-3 hours after a wheat-containing meal. Instead, hunger is a soft signal that gently prods you that it's time to consider eating again. You may even find that you miss meals, just because you forgot to eat. Very curious.

It’s unconventional, I know. The last 500 patients I’ve done this with also thought so─until they lost 15, 20 . . .70 lbs along with all the undesirable metabolic “baggage.”

Source: http://www.healthcentral.com/heart-disease/c/1435/33213/heart-disease/2?ic=2601