Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Fertility: What You Need to Know

Polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS for short is a disorder that causes an imbalance in female sex hormones. The imbalance can lead to a variety of symptoms and also affect a woman's fertility.

To understand what PCOS is and how it affects a woman, it's helpful to learn a little about how the ovaries work.

Every month in women of childbearing age, tiny fluid-filled cysts called follicles develop on the surface of the ovary. One of the follicles will produce a mature egg, which is released from the ovary. Female sex hormones including estrogen cause the egg to mature and break through the follicle.

In women who have polycystic ovary syndrome, there is an imbalance in female sex hormones. The imbalance may prevent mature eggs from developing and being released. Without a mature egg, ovulation does not occur, which leads to infertility.

Read more: Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Fertility: What You Need to Know

The imbalance in female hormones may prevent ovulation, leading to infertility. If showing any
symptoms of PCOS, it is wise to see a doctor in order to prevent further complications. Unless a
woman is trying to get pregnant, birth control pills may be used to correct the hormonal imbalance.

Source: MedicalNewsToday.

Female hormones may decrease risk of kidney failure in women than men

Female hormones may play a role in women's decreased risk of developing kidney failure relative to men, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The findings may be helpful for future attempts at safeguarding women's and men's kidney health in sex-specific ways.

Sex differences between men and women affect most, if not all, organ systems in the body, but there is a significant gap in knowledge of female physiology aside from organ functions involved in reproduction. Regarding the kidneys, while international registries show that fewer women than men develop kidney failure, the underlying causes are unknown.

To investigate, a team led by Judith Lechner, PhD and Thomas Seppi, PhD (Medical University of Innsbruck, in Austria) examined whether hormone changes due to the female menstrual cycle might affect the health of kidney cells. For this purpose, urinary samples from healthy women of reproductive age were collected daily and analyzed for menstrual cycle-associated changes of different proteins.

Read more: Female hormones may decrease risk of kidney failure in women than men

Source: umm.edu