Article # 233. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - Treatment Overview

What treatments are available for infertility?

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) - Treatment Overview

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a group of health problems caused by out-of-balance hormones. It often involves irregular menstrual periods beginning in puberty or difficulty getting pregnant.

Regular exercise, a healthy diet, not smoking, and weight control are all important parts of treatment for PCOS. Sometimes, also using a medicine to balance hormones is helpful.

There is no cure for PCOS, but controlling it lowers your PCOS risks of infertility, miscarriages, diabetes, heart disease, and uterine cancer.

Initial treatment

The first step in managing polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet, and not smoking. This is a medical treatment for PCOS, not just a lifestyle choice. Additional treatments depend on your symptoms and whether you are planning a pregnancy.

•If you are overweight, a small amount of weight loss is likely to help balance your hormones and start up your menstrual cycle and ovulation. Use regular exercise and a healthy weight-loss diet as your first big treatment step. This is especially important if you're planning a pregnancy.

•If you smoke, consider quitting. Women who smoke have higher levels of androgens than women who don't smoke. Smoking also increases your risk of heart disease.

•If you are planning a pregnancy and weight loss doesn't improve your fertility, your doctor may suggest a medicine that helps lower insulin. With weight loss, this can improve your chances of ovulation and pregnancy. Fertility drug treatment may also help start ovulation.

•If you are not planning a pregnancy, you can also use hormone therapy to help control your ovary hormones. To correct menstrual cycle problems, birth control hormones keep your endometrial lining from building up for too long. This is what prevents uterine cancer. Hormone therapy can also help with male-type hair growth and acne. Birth control pills, patches, or vaginal rings are prescribed for hormone therapy. 

Androgen-lowering spironolactone (Aldactone) is often used with estrogen-progestin birth control pills. This helps with hair loss, acne, and male-pattern hair growth on the face and body (hirsutism).

Taking hormones does not help with heart, blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes risks. This is why exercise and a healthy diet are a key part of your treatment.

How is it treated?

Regular exercise, healthy foods, and weight control are key treatments for PCOS. Medicines to balance hormones may also be used. Getting treatment can reduce unpleasant symptoms and help prevent long-term health problems.

The first step in managing PCOS is to get regular exercise and eat heart-healthy foods. This can help lower blood pressure and cholesterol and reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease. It can also help you lose weight if you need to.

•Try to fit in moderate activity and/or vigorous activity on a regular basis. Walking is a great exercise that most people can do.

•Eat a heart-healthy diet. In general, this diet has lots of vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans, and whole grains. It also limits foods that are high in saturated fat, such as meats, cheeses, and fried foods. If you have blood sugar problems, try to eat about the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal. A registered dietitian can help you make a meal plan.

•Most women who have PCOS can benefit from losing weight. Even losing 10 lb (4.5 kg) may help get your hormones in balance and regulate your menstrual cycle. PCOS can make it hard to lose weight, so work with your doctor to make a plan that can help you succeed.

•If you smoke, consider quitting. Women who smoke have higher androgen levels that may contribute to PCOS symptoms.1Smoking also increases the risk for heart disease.

A doctor may also prescribe medicines, such as:

•Birth control pills. They can help your periods be regular and can reduce symptoms such as excess facial hair and acne. An androgen-lowering medicine,spironolactone, may be used with birth control pills to help reduce symptoms even more. These medicines are not used if you are trying to get pregnant.

•A diabetes medicine called metformin. It can help restore regular menstrual cycles and fertility.

•Fertility medicines, if you are trying to get pregnant.

It is important to see your doctor for follow-up to make sure treatment is working and to adjust it if needed. You may also need regular tests to check for diabetes,high blood pressure, and other possible problems.

It may take a while for treatments to help with symptoms such as facial hair or acne. In the meantime:

•Over-the-counter or prescription acne medicines may help with skin problems.

•Waxing, tweezing, and shaving are easy ways to get rid of unwanted hair. Electrolysis or laser treatments can permanently remove the hair but are more expensive. Your doctor can also prescribe a skin cream that slows hair growth for as long as you use it regularly.

•It can be hard to deal with having PCOS. If you are feeling sad or depressed, it may help to talk to a counselor or to other women who have PCOS. Ask your doctor about local support groups, or look for an online group. It can make a big difference to know that you are not alone.

Article # 232. How Many Calories to Eat/Burn to Lose 5, 10, 20, 50 Pounds

How Many Calories to Eat/Burn to Lose 5, 10, 20, 50 Pounds

In order to lose pounds it’s important to understand how many calories you’ll need to burn. To burn extra calories you can either eat less, exercise more, or do a combination of the two. Depending on your weight loss goal and your eating and exercise habits, the length of time it will take you reach your goal weight will vary. Below are some tips on how to lose 5, 10, 20 or 50 pounds.

1. Choose a Goal Weight

There are many ways to choose your goal weight, such as calculating your BMI, using the Hamwi method, or choosing your lowest adult weight. A good rule of thumb when choosing your goal weight is to pick a weight that will yield a BMI that is in the normal weight range category. Your initial weight loss goal should not exceed 10 percent of your initial weight; maintain your new weight for at least 6 months before attempting another weight loss.

2. How to Lose Weight Safely

A safe rate of weight loss is ½ -1 pound per week. You’ll need to burn an extra 250 calories per day to lose ½ pound per week and 500 calories per day to lose 1 pound per week. A 140-pound person can burn approximately 330 calories by walking for 60 minutes at a pace of 4 miles per hour. Heavier people will burn more calories (performing the same activities) due to the increased effort it takes to move a heavier body. When trying to lose weight eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fiber and healthy (unsaturated) fats; also reduce your overall calorie and sugar intake.

3. How to Lose 5 Pounds

To lose 5 pounds you will have to burn 17,500 calories. At a weight loss rate of ½ - 1 pound per week it should take you approximately 5 – 10 weeks to lose 5 pounds. Since losing those last 5 pounds always seems to be difficult, try changing up your workout routine (cross train) and reduce your sugar intake.

4. How to Lose 10 Pounds

To lose 10 pounds you’ll need to burn an extra 35,000 calories. A 10-pound weight loss should take you about 10 -20 weeks. Continue to incorporate regular physical activity and healthy eating into your weight loss program.

5. How to Lose 20 Pounds

You’ll need to burn an extra 70,000 calories to lose 20 pounds; depending on your starting weight it may take you 20 weeks or more to lose the weight. Set short-term goals and keep food and weight diaries to help you track your progress.

6. How to Lose 50 Pounds

A 50-pound weight loss requires you to burn an extra 175,000 calories and will likely take you 50 weeks or longer. This may seem challenging; start with short-term goals (weekly or monthly goals), track your progress, and reward your successes along the way. Remember after you lose up to 10 percent of your initial body weight, maintain the new weight for at least 6 months before attempting another weight loss.

Article # 231. Healthy Weight Loss Goal

The number of calories you need to burn to lose 10 pounds (4.53kgs) is 35,000. This is because one pound is equal to about 3,500 calories. This may seem like an overwhelming and unachievable number, but it is within your reach. Just create a plan and stick to it.

Healthy Weight Loss Goal

Experts recommend that a healthy weight loss goal is about one to two pounds per week (0.45 to 0.90Kg). I do recommend the same. While some people can lose more than that each week, avoid weight loss methods that promote losing 10 pounds in a single week. Give yourself about 5 to 6 weeks to lose the 10 pounds.

When people lose large amounts of weight quickly through extreme methods, their skin often droops and they do not look healthy. Extremely fast weight loss is often a result of calorie deprivation, resulting in malnutrition. These types of methods are unsustainable in the long term. Give yourself the luxury of gradual weight loss, which will keep your body in optimal shape.

If you set your weight loss goal at two pounds per week, that is equal to burning about 7,000 calories weekly. The good news is that you do not have to actually burn off all of those calories. If you consciously adjust your caloric intake on a daily basis, you can more easily meet your weekly goal.

Food Journal

Start by keeping a food journal. Write down everything you eat and record the number of calories for each food item. Determine how many calories you need on a daily basis using a Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) calculator. This is a measure of how many calories your body needs to perform its basic daily functions such as breathing, circulation and metabolism. You want to eat enough to meet this basic caloric requirement.

Keeping a food journal will help you to spot the foods and beverages that you can eliminate from your diet. For example, you may be surprised to see just how many calories you consume from beverages alone. Soft drinks, sweetened coffee and sugary juices can be replaced with water or healthier, lower calorie drinks. Sweets and salty snacks can be eliminated, reduced, or replaced with low-calorie treats. You may find that you can cut 500 calories per day by cutting out high calorie beverages and snacks. This alone would decrease your weekly caloric intake by 3,500 calories, or 1 pound.

Exercise Journal

Also remember that the more muscle you have, the more calories you will burn. Add exercise to your daily routine. Some workout machines will tell you how many calories you have burned. Online exercise calculators will give you good estimates as well. After each exercise session, write down the total number of calories burned. Just the act of tracking the calories motivates some people to exercise longer and cut out high calorie foods.

Through daily aerobic exercise and lower caloric intake, you can burn off 35,000 calories in about 5 or 6 weeks. You have to be diligent. Tools like food journals, BMR calculators and exercise calorie counters can help you track your efforts and meet your goals. FitDay can even help you track your progress.