Complications are frequent and serious in PCOS. Beware-PCOS is not a problem of ovary or uterus.
It will not go off at menopause. It can kill if you are ignorant.
Most often women think PCOS and a problem of periods or hair growth or infertility. Once they get a temporary solution of the problem, they ignore the main problem. PCOS can cause diabetes, cancers, heart disease and stroke, fatty liver, renal failure etc. later in life. We can say most patients who get ovarian cancers can be PCOS patients.
Abnormal metabolism and hormone functions can cause a lot of complications later. Some of them are very serious.
Later in life, they may face cancer or stroke, and they and the treating doctor may forget the real cause of stroke or cancer. If you are a PCOS victim, you should control the disease perfectly, to avoid these complications. Suppressing or masking one or two symptoms with a pill or will not save you from complications. It is an important point to understand- none of your pills- either metformin or contraceptive cyclical 21 days/ 5-day pills will save you from complications.
Diabetes
Women with PCOS who have insulin resistance have an increased risk of developing a type of diabetes known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes (type 2 diabetes). This is much more likely to occur in women who are overweight but can sometimes occur in women of normal weight too.This diabetes often appear as related with pregnancy ( gestational diabetes)
Early detection is important in diabetes. The usual Fasting blood sugar test is useless in predicting the risk of diabetes because usually, it is normal in early stages. Ideally, you have to do a GTT ( glucose tolerance test-testing your blood glucose after swallowing a glass of glucose water). along with the GTT, you have to do a fasting and 2-hour blood INSULIN levels.Any abnormality among these values is risky, and seek immediate help. If there is any abnormality, you must reverse PCOS.
Fatty Liver
Fatty liver is frequent in PCOS. Often this is just an ultrasound finding or an abnormal lab result. However, fatty liver can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure.
How to check Fatty liver? go to the ultrasound scan center, ask for an abdominal scan for fatty liver.It is a cheap investigation. Then go to a lab and ask for SGPT and SGOT tests.If the values are abnormal, you have the Fatty liver.
Renal failure
Renal failure is frequent in PCOS people. Often there won't be any significant features outside (for example a puffy face, edema in legs) but the kidneys will suffer from slow damage. Since we all have two kidneys. If we check early tests for kidney damage, we see problems in 5-15 % of people. There will be microalbuminuria or elevated Cystatin-C level.
Autoimmune diseases are frequent in PCOS. There are a number of autoimmune diseases affecting kidneys. It is important to look for these problems if you find abnormalities in renal functions.
Autoimmune diseases
In PCOS patients, autoimmune diseases are common. This can be due to abnormal immune functions. The most common disease is Hashimoto’s autoimmune thyroiditis.
Women with PCOS are 3 to 4 times more likely to develop Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis than women without PCOS. In other words, 30-40% of women with PCOS and hypothyroidism are found to have Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis.
Cancers
(As direct result of PCOS or caused by obesity)
4 times higher risk for breast cancer
Ovary and Uterine cancers
Endometrial cancer
Women who have very infrequent periods – fewer than four a year – may have an increased risk of developing endometrial cancer which is cancer affecting the inner lining of the womb. Any women before menopause should clean the inner lining of the uterus, either by normal periods (or by once in the 4-month use of oral contraceptive pills.*) Endometrial cancer develops over several years if the womb lining (endometrium) is not lost regularly.
With periods every few months, your risk is low; however, you have less than two or three periods a year, there is an increased risk, which needs to be dealt with. Your doctor can prescribe a low-dose contraceptive pill or progesterone tablets every few months to bring on a period and clear the womb lining from your body. You don’t need to have an induced period every month, either – once every three months seems to be sufficient.
Other complications include frequent bladder and urinary tract infections, orthopedic problems due to obesity and abnormal muscle/joint functions
Heart disease and stroke
Women with PCOS may get stroke or heart disease later in life. This risk is increased after menopause. This is a point of mistake people often do when they ignore PCOS once the menopause starts.
Stroke (women with PCOS have a 4-fold risk)
Heart attack - (women with PCOS have a ten-fold risk)
