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Re: PCOS--too much estrogen or too much testosterone?From: Renee (anonymous@obgyn.net)Thu, 13 Jun 2002 08:25:26 -0700
5-10% of women have PCOS; it depends on who you read. I would need to know how many women with PCOS also have endo, and how many women in the general population have endo (given your number of 6 million, and US census data described below, it's approximately 6%), or vice versa, to get a definitive answer. No one has done that research, as far as I can tell. Just knowing how many women have each condition isn't enough to determine a link. However, the numbers are large enough to believe that there is an extremely liklihood that there would be an overlap. There would probably be a finding of up to 10% of women with endo having PCOS also, based on the numbers in the general population. That would explain why you have 3-4 women on an endo list who have at PCOS also. How many women are on those lists? If even 40, then you have your 10%. The number goes down as the list volume goes up (though, there are a large number of women, potentially, who are silent on whether they have it or not, not to mention the numbers walking around without a diagnosis for their symptoms, in both cases). Conversely, you would expect to have about 6% or so of the women on the PCOS list to have endo, whether they say it or not. Remember also, that not everyone speaks up either way, and those who are unhappier tend to be more vocal (but not always). For example, we hear about most of the negative experiences with met/glucophage. However, few people write to say, "I took the med, and I had no problem." We don't report a non-event. So, you hear people reporting other problems, but not the absence of a problem. It's not surprising that on an endo or PCOS list you'd find people with both conditions. You'll also find people with multiple sclerosis, asthma, lung cancer, hay fever, pet allergies, osteoarthritis, and acrophobia (fear of heights). In any group of people large enough you'll have an overlap with another group of sufficient size. Imagine all women with PCOS in one circle. All women with endo are in another circle. Now, overlap the circles a little bit. In the overlap section are those women with both. If both conditions were rare, the overlap would be expected to be small, if it existed at all, unless there was a link. However, these are big circles, so a significant overlap would be expected. With the endo circle being 6 million (in US) and the PCOS circle being 10.5 million or so (based on US 2000 census figure for women over age 18, and taking 10% of that), those are pretty big, and very likely to have an overlap. Humans seek patterns. We try to find order, and create it if needed. We're wired that way. (It's also one reason people believe in many, many false things--read Michael Shermer's Why People Believe Weird Things, a very interesting book.) So, for someone with two life-affecting conditions, the natural tendancy would be to look for a link. It's natural. Also, people here who have endo are more likely to say so than those who don't have endo would be to state they don't. So, those with endo get more noticed by someone who's looking for a pattern. I would love to have a definitive answer for you, one way or the other, about whether these two are linked or not. I don't know. If any one knows researchers doing a large women's health study, then please ask them to collect that data on the questionnaire. It would take minimal work to get a whole new piece of needed data (and another paper for the authors). Renee
Kristy Sokoloski wrote:
>
-- -------------- Renee Cordrey, MSPT, MPH, CWS--- Dwell in Possibility. --Emily Dickenson
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