As the holidays approach, we get a lot of opportunities to explain PCOS to friends and family. While it may not seem the perfect timing, is there ever perfect timing? If we all try to educate just one person we come in contact with this holiday (maybe as yet another piece of holiday chocolate is being shoved our way), it'll help the cause for awareness exponentially, and maybe, if we're lucky, foster a bit of understanding in our relationships.

Also, tonight from 8-9pm (ET) the AFA is hosting a chat with Dr. Andrea Braverman about surviving the holidays when dealing with infertility entitled "If I Get One More Holiday Card with a Picture of a Cute Baby on it I Will SCREAM - How To Get Through The Holidays With Your Sanity Intact" for those of us dealing with the infertility aspect of PCOS.

For bilingual or Spanish speaking cysters, there's a new message board: Mujeres Con SOP, created and run by Indira of Soulcysters.

The University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, Texas is conducting a study using Clomid and Femara in women with PCOS. The article in the San Antonio Express-News doesn't say what exactly they're studying about these drugs, but volunteers get six months worth of care (including medicine and monitoring), adding up to about $10,000 worth of fertility treatments.

Women with PCOS can call the UTHSC for more information at (210) 567-6245

It looks like the calpain-10 (CAPN10) gene, aka, the "diabetes gene" might explain the onset of PCOS. A study in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism found three areas of the gene (one expected) showed links to susceptibility to PCOS, and one of those three had a relationship to both type 2 diabetes and PCOS.

Since women with PCOS have an up to seven times greater chance to develop type 2 diabetes than our non-cysters, this is exciting research that may help some of our more stubborn doctors start looking at the IR factor sooner rather than later.

Ashley Tabeling (you may recognize her name from the PCOSA or PAC) has set up a very well done online petition asking Congress to address the faults in diagnoses and treatment of PCOS. She's hoping for 20,000 signatures by January 31st "so she may begin to lobby legislators on behalf of the PCOS Community".

At the moment there are only 4,574.

We can do better than that, can't we?

A new study was published today comparing the Rotterdam criteria, a set of criteria established during the 2003 European Society for Human Reproduction & Embryology/American Society for Reproductive Medicine joint workshop that set a standard for diagnoses.

The criteria set was that a woman must have two out of three of the following to be diagnosed with PCOS: abnormal ovulation, elevated androgen levels, and/or enlarged ovaries with 12 or more follicles each.

This study took those three criteria and found that BMI and insulin levels were the highest in the group that displayed both elevated androgens and irregular/absent ovulation, regardless of whether she had polycystic ovaries.

Subjects with PCOS defined by [irregular menses & hyperandrogenism] are the most severely affected women on the basis of androgen levels, ovarian volumes, and insulin levels. Their higher body mass index partially accounts for the increased insulin levels, suggesting that weight gain exacerbates the symptoms of PCOS.

I'm not so sure about the conclusion. We already know that weight exacerbates PCOS symptoms, but the study seems to assume that it's the weight causing the elevated androgens and irregular ovulation, and not the other way around, with no information to suggest that they looked into that, or insulin's role in causation at all.

Still, it does reaffirm what many suspect - that PCO part of PCOS is really not the main feature. Perhaps the Rotterdam criteria should be revisited?

We're already prescribed medications for diabetes and high blood pressure. Now a new study shows that Simvastatin, or Zocor, a statin used in treatment of high cholesterol, may help women with PCOS.

According to the small study, "statins decrease proliferation and steroidogenesis of ovarian theca-interstitial cells.... We propose that statins may be used in women with PCOS to reduce hyperandrogenism and cardiovascular risks."

Note that the study did not test women on just Simvastatin, but the statin along with oral contraceptives. Still, the results in the group with Simvastatin and OCPs were better than those with only OCPs.

Zocor should not be taken while pregnant or trying to become pregnant. So if you're TTC, it leaves you in the same boat as Aladactone.

Study Highlights

• Subjects were 48 women with PCOS, defined by the presence of 2 or more of the following: oligovulation or anovulation, clinical and/or chemical hyperandrogenism, or polycystic ovaries by ultrasound.
• Exclusion criteria included congenital adrenal hyperplasia, Cushing's syndrome, androgen-secreting tumors, thyroid disease, hyperprolactinemia, and diabetes mellitus and use of OCPs, steroid hormones, or any treatment affecting ovarian function, insulin sensitivity, or lipid profile in the previous 3 months.
• 94% (45/48) of women had hyperandrogenism and/or hyperandrogenemia (total testosterone level of at least 0.6 ng/mL).
• 75% (36/48) of women had oligomenorrhea (up to 8 spontaneous menses per year).
• 24 women were assigned to 12 weeks of statin plus OCP (20 mg daily of simvastatin plus 20 μg of ethinyl estradiol and 150 μg of desogestrel) then 12 weeks of OCP alone, 24 women were assigned to 12 weeks of OCP alone then 12 weeks of statin plus OCP, and 3 were lost to follow-up.
• Mean age for both groups was 24 years.
• Primary outcome measure of total testosterone level significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (38% vs 26% decrease; P < .004).
• Free testosterone levels significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (58% vs 35% decrease; P = .006).
• Hirsutism significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (8.1% vs 4.7%; P = .02).
• Luteinizing hormone level significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (difference, -1.55; P = .002).
• Luteinizing hormone:follicle-stimulating hormone ratio significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (difference, -0.19; P = .01).
• Other secondary endocrine measures showed no significant difference between treatments.
  • Follicle-stimulating hormone level increased from baseline after OCP alone, but was not significantly different after statin plus OCP.
  • Dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS) decreased from baseline after both treatments.
  • Prolactin levels did not change from baseline after both treatments.
  • Fasting glucose and glucose area under the curve (AUC) increased from baseline from 4% to 8%.
  • Insulin sensitivity index, derived from 2-hour glucose tolerance test results, showed 22% decrease after statin plus OCP and 15% decrease after OCP alone.
  • Fasting insulin increased from baseline for both statin plus OCP (11%) and OCP alone (9%).
  • Insulin AUC increased from baseline for statin plus OCP (18%) and OCP alone (31%).
• Total cholesterol decreased by 7.5% after statin plus OCP and increased by 5% after OCP alone (difference, -24.0; P < .001).
• Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level decreased by 20% after statin plus OCP vs no effect after OCP alone (difference, -22.9, P < .001).
• Triglyceride levels were not changed by statin plus OCP but increased 20% after OCP alone (difference, -17.3; P = .003).
• High-density lipoprotein cholesterol level increased after each treatment but showed no difference between treatments.
• High-sensitivity C-reactive protein, a marker of systemic inflammation, was significantly decreased by 45% after statin plus OCP and increased by 6% after OCP alone (P = .006).
• Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, a marker of endothelial activation that correlates with atherosclerosis, significantly decreased more after statin plus OCP vs OCP alone (18% vs 10%; P = .01).
• Body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio did not change significantly from baseline or between treatments.
• No significant adverse effects were reported.
• Liver function tests were normal at baseline, 12 weeks, and 24 weeks.

We are a new PCOS blog, dedicated to bringing the latest PCOS information to the community.

Right now things are pretty bare, and we need your help!

We're looking for 3-4 more contributors, blogs & journals by cysters that deal with your experiences (even if it's not your main topic), and your favorite reference links.

We would also appreciate any links you can give us - spread the word and help us build this into a bigger and better community site.