Beyond the Ovaries: Renaming a common yet neglected hormonal condition could be the key to unlocking better care for patients
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stewart-stewaly-sm-cmsw-2024-thesis.pdf
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Thesis PDF
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304.53 KB
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Author(s)
Stewart, Lily
Advisor(s)
Gross, Rachel E.
Date Issued
September 2024
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
PCOS is a common hormonal condition found in 10 to 19 percent of people with ovaries. It frequently causes irregular periods and ovulation and is one of the most common forms of female infertility. However, the effects do not stop there. People with PCOS are at higher risk for a slew of health complications: insulin resistance, sleep apnea, depression, and anxiety. They are also more likely to develop metabolic syndrome—a combination of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and high waist-to-hip ratios. Together, many of these symptoms are risk factors for fatty liver disease or heart attacks and strokes.
Despite the commonness and potential seriousness of the condition, many patients go undiagnosed, and those with diagnoses frequently go under-treated. The reasons for this are aplenty. PCOS’s cause is unknown. It has no known cure. It looks different from patient to patient. Its research is underfunded. Physicians do not learn much about it in medical school.
But one reason at the root of it all, some experts say, is how tightly this condition has been intertwined with reproduction and fertility. Over the past decade, researchers and physicians who specialize in the condition have been pushing for everyone to recognize PCOS for what it is: a full-body endocrine syndrome with wide-reaching effects on health and quality of life. And one way to combat these is to change something fundamental about the condition: its name.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Program in Comparative Media Studies/Writing
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Graduate Program in Science Writing
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