One of the biggest challenges to women’s fertility in the UK is PCOS health condition. To give it its full name, polycystic Ovary Syndrome (or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) is estimated to affect as many as a fifth of women in the UK. It can dramatically impact their ability to conceive naturally. Today we’re looking at how this condition affects your body, why it has such a negative impact on your chances of developing, and the things you can do to boost your chances of getting pregnant without costly and disruptive IVF treatments.
This condition’s root causes are still not thoroughly understood, though scientists and doctors are testing various possible genetic and environmental triggers. We know it begins to affect your body when you produce too much insulin. This hormone governs how your body deals with sugar, from using it for energy to storing the excess as fat. With too much insulin, your body becomes resistant to it, and you begin to gain weight. This also leads to an overproduction of androgen. This is commonly known as a male sex hormone. While small amounts have a role in the female body, too much interferes with the process by which your ovaries mature and release an egg each month, allowing you to become pregnant, leading to delayed or missed ovulations and fewer chances to conceive.
To give yourself a better chance, you need to know how to ovulate with PCOS – how you can encourage your body to restart this process, ideally without fertility medication, which can have severe effects on your mood, among other side effects.
Exercise and Lifestyle
One of the most important things you can do is try to lose the weight PCOS encourages your body to gain. It’s not easy – you’re fighting your body and its hormones. Still, suppose you can control your sugar intake and lose some of this weight. In that case, it can cause your body to dial down its insulin production, reducing all the other symptoms of PCOS, including its interference with your ovulation. For some women, this is enough to restart regular, spontaneous ovulation.
Dietary Supplements
Adding some dietary supplements to your exercise routine can also help your body regain a more normal rhythm with its reproductive processes. Vitamin C and Zinc are said to help women with PCOS ovulate more regularly, though we’re still waiting for definitive studies as with many dietary supplements.
