Millions of American women are at grave risk for serious illnesses
including heart attack, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer and
they don’t even know it.
Polycystic
Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), the most common metabolic disorder of
reproductive-age women in the United States is commonly known as a reproductive
disorder, but is also associated with life-threatening medical illnesses. Therefore, a plan of action needs to be put into place to find and treat women to
prevent serious illness.
Did you know?
· PCOS affects an estimated 10% of reproductive-age
women in the U.S.
· Over 50% of PCOS patients are obese; 50% have
diabetes by age 40
· PCOS patients are at higher risk to develop high
blood pressure, lipid disorders and coronary artery disease
· New studies have shown that as many as 40% of PCOS patients as young as age 30-45 may have coronary calcification (a warning
of heart attack risk)
February 13, 2014 Marked the birth
of a campaign aimed to increase awareness and change for
women and girls with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) #HeartforPCOSCampaign in conjunction with The PCOS Awareness Association (PCOSAA) http://www.pcosaa.org
For
the staff of the new organization, The PCOS Awareness Assocation will be a major
driving force in addressing the need for more information and education about PCOS.
PCOS is complex hormonal disorder for which there is no cure, but for
which effective management is possible.
Not only does PCOS cause devastating short-term effects such as
infertility, dark skin patches, obesity, acne, female patterned
baldness and excess facial and body hair, PCOS has a substantial negative
impact on quality of life because of the disorder’s multi-system
conditions. Many women with PCOS
are insulin-resistant, a condition that raises the level of insulin circulating
in the body and is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. In fact, women with PCOS
have seven times the risk of other women for developing adult-onset diabetes,
which in turn greatly increases their chance of having cardiovascular disease,
hypertension, stroke and kidney problems.
In addition, because obesity and type two diabetes have now reached
epidemic proportions in the United States, and cardiovascular disease remains
the leading cause of death in women, PCOS plays a key role in the foremost causes
of death and disability in American women.
The PCOS Awareness Assocation and
its volunteers and members plan to speak very openly about their struggle,
symptoms, and avenues they have taken to help other women interpret the
information available about PCOS, through the resources provided by PCOSAA's partners and educational initiatives!
The PCOS Awareness Association will be a driving force in letting
women and girls know they are not alone!
Many women with
PCOS, have gone years without the proper diagnosis and have silently suffered
not knowing what was truly wrong. Even in today’s medically advanced era, women
from around the country are experiencing the same lack of response from a
medical community with little understanding of PCOS, except in rare cases when
the infertility aspect are addressed.
As a result, single women, older women and those not trying to get
pregnant have little chance of being diagnosed.
Part of the problem is that the
PCOS symptoms manifest themselves in different ways. In fact, not all affected women have polycystic
ovaries. Women with PCOS can have
any combination of symptoms of varying severity. As a result, researchers, doctors
and women themselves look at the symptoms individually rather than
collectively.
The good news is with The PCOS
Awareness Association, the word is spreading. Physicians are now recognizing the symptoms and sending
women to endocrinologists for testing. In addition, research on PCOS and its
causes has increased, greatly. Now with the help of many dedicated volunteers
from across the country, There is an outlet for people who want to dedicate their time to
help women, girls and the public at large learn about and understand PCOS!
If you would like to
learn more about the PCOS Awareness Association and PCOS through our partners please
visit the website: http://www.pcosaa.org
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