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Re: PCOS hereditary?From: paula (anonymous@obgyn.net)Sun, 8 Apr 2001 23:38:48 -0500 (CDT)
it seems to be linked to a defect on an insulin receptor gene on chromosome 19. so it ie belived that insulin resistance is genetic, and in the vast majority of cases, PCOS is caused by ir, so in a sense it is genetic. it can be triggered by insulin resistance, what happens is the endocrine system is very complicated and intermixed. when one hormone is messed up, others follow, becuase generally, hormones are not just used to cause something to happen, like testosterone triggers hair growth, but they are also used as messangers, telling other endocrine glands to produce. also insulin stores glucose as fat, fat secreted oestrogen, which causes more estrogen to be produced. it is all very hard to explain, but it canbe triggered by the pancreas producing too much insulin. it can probably also be triggered by other glands such as the adrenals or the pituitary over producing their respective hormones. yes you will have it the rest of your life, it cannot be cured yet, but it can be controlled. menopause will obviously have some effects on it, but not enough. it may lessen at menopause, or worsen it depends on your particular case. there are few hardcore answers regarding PCOS and insulin resistance, but we do know quite a bit more than we did 10 years ago. it is important to remember a few things, i see that these are the most commonly misunderstood facts on this board and elsewhere 1) insulin resistance and PCOS are not the same thing, they do have overlapping symptoms, but you can have one without the other.for instance, a symptom of pcos is infertility, but that is not a symptom of IR. and in turn, diabetes is a symptom (well, result) of IR, not PCOS 2) another thing there is a lot of confusion about is the drug metformin. it is a common misconception that met will allow you to get pregnant. i want to stress how untrue this is. met is an insulin sensitizer, it workes on the cells to convince them to be attentive to the insulin. it therefore lowers blood insulin levels, and reduces the amount of glucose that is automatically stored as fat. so in turn, it CAN result in the resumption of normal menses and ovulation, but it will not always. also, it can take some time for this to happen, and it will not happen with everyone. i have been on met for well over a year, and only the past several months have had normal periods. anyway, i am totally sure that i have rambled on well beyond your question...hope this helps a little =) love, paula
-- please feel free to email me anytime at paulam@kih.net...remember to put PCOS in the subject line =)
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