PCOS Review Newsletter #106

A free health newsletter for women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovaries.   Issue #106      May 16, 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Weight Loss Tactic: Take a Multi-Vitamin/Mineral

2) Is Chemical Exposure a Cause of PCOS?

3) Acupuncture Fertility Success Stories

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1) Weight Loss Tactic: Take a Multi-Vitamin/Mineral

A study just released from Harbin Medical University in China has reported that 96 overweight women who took a multi-vitamin/mineral supplement for six months lost weight, reduced fat mass and lowered their cholesterol levels.

This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, intervention study, which is the quality "gold standard" for medical studies.

The researchers concluded: "...in obese individuals, multivitamin and mineral supplementation could reduce body weight and fatness and improve serum lipid profiles."

Based on this and other studies, we think a high-quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement would be a good idea. Click here to see a high-quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.

We have uncovered considerable research to indicate that a multi-vitamin-mineral supplement can be beneficial to you in a number of ways. We'll talk more about this in future issues.

Source:
Li Y et al, Effects of multivitamin and mineral supplementation on adiposity, energy expenditure and lipid profiles in obese Chinese women. Int J Obes (Lond), 2010 Feb 9; [Epub ahead of print]

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2) Is Chemical Exposure a Cause of PCOS?

Did you know that over 80,000 chemicals have been released into our environment? It's scary that no one has tested all of these 80,000 chemicals to determine their effect on your health. No one has performed medical studies to find out how all these 80,000 chemicals interact with each other or how they interact inside your body, or what their combined and cumulative effect is on your health.

Folks, we are in the middle of a chemical crap shoot. No one knows how this will turn out. But the limited research so far is mostly bad news.

Here is a recent example: a chemical called "bisphenol A" and its possible relationship to PCOS.

Bisphenol A (BPA) is sometimes referred to as an "endocrine disruptor" or "hormone disrupter". This chemical is found in numerous consumer plastic products and canned foods to which you are exposed.

The University of Buenos Aires in Argentina recently completed a study of rats exposed to BPA. The researchers exposed baby female rats to BPA.

When the female rats became adults, they discovered that their BPA exposure was associated with increased testosterone and estrogen, and reduced progesterone. This is an unbalanced hormone pattern commonly seen in women who have polycystic ovary syndrome.

In addition, the exposed female rats had much reduced fertility. Also, their ovaries had large numbers of ovarian cysts.

If it can happen to a rat, can it happen to you? Think of the rats as canaries in a coal mine. If the canary dies, the miners are in trouble. One recent study showed that 99% of pregnant women had at least one urine sample with detectable levels of BPA. That's 99 of every 100 women!

We've discussed BPA in previous articles: Are You Playing Genetic Russian Roulette?, Avoid This Hidden Threat to Your Health, and Plastics Chemical Tied to Aggression in Young Girls.

Even though it's invisible, you can start by reducing your exposure to BPA. It is used in a multitude of hard plastic products such as water bottles, food containers, infant bottles and medical equipment and supplies. BPA may also be found in the lining of canned foods and in many other non-obvious products such as thermal-printed cash register receipts and some dental sealants.

We suggest that you reduce the use of canned foods and eat more fresh food instead. Try to use glass containers instead of plastic for food, water and beverages. Don't use plastic bottles to feed your baby; use glass instead.

Finally, it is critical that you improve the quality of your diet as described in The Natural Diet Solution for PCOS and Infertility ebook. Why? Because this diet is as free of chemicals as a diet can be.

We are all under a huge chemical burden. You can reduce that burden by cleaning up your diet.

Another super-important reason to adopt a better diet is to you can better control your genes. The Tale of Two Mice video explains this. Your understanding of this video is crucial for your future health.

Source:
Fernandez, MO et al, Neonatal Exposure to Bisphenol A and Reproductive and Endocrine Alterations Resembling the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Adult Rats, Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Apr 22. [Epub ahead of print]

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3) Acupuncture Fertility Success Stories

By Carl Hangee-Bauer, ND, LAc

Since starting my acupuncture practice in 1989, I have seen a number of women who wanted to promote fertility naturally. Some had gone through fertility workups, others hadn't, and some were considering it. I was impressed at how many of them successfully became pregnant with acupuncture and herbal treatment alone. The following are some real life success stories. (Names have been changed to protect privacy.)

Sinead was a 35 year old woman who had been diagnosed with PCOS and infertility likely associated with absence of ovulation and irregular periods. She was also experiencing galactorrhea, which is the inappropriate production of breast milk due to high prolactin levels.

Goals of treatment were to address underlying factors associated with PCOS including insulin resistance as well as focusing on promoting ovulation, reducing prolactin, and balancing reproductive hormones.

I had Sinead start keeping a menses diary, make some diet changes, begin weekly acupuncture treatments, and gave her an individualized herbal formula for one month that had been shown to be 90% effective in resolving ovarian cysts. (This was not aimed at addressing the causes of PCOS but to have a direct effect on the ovaries to improve the chances of ovulation.)

Several weeks later, Sinead called complaining of strong left sided abdominal pain. After examination and evaluation, we determined that this was most likely a strong case of Mittleschmertz or pain associated with ovulation.

Afterwards, Sinead began to have regular menstrual cycles though it took a few months of individualized acupuncture and herbal therapies to reduce PMS symptoms and for her periods to normalize. After about 6 months of treatment, Sinead became pregnant, had a healthy pregnancy and birth.

Donna was diagnosed with premature ovarian failure at 39 years old, but still wanted to start a family. At her first visit, she described her work with a fertility clinic and three previous failures of IVF with donor eggs.

She sought acupuncture to help increase her chances of becoming pregnant and to ease the side effects of the hormone therapies. I treated Donna with acupuncture prior to and during her next IVF cycle to enhance fertility and manage her symptoms from the fertility drugs.

Donna became pregnant at her next IVF treatment and gave birth to healthy twins nine months later.

Angela had a similar presentation, though in her case her husband was infertile due to a previous traumatic injury. Angela had tried several courses of intra-uterine insemination (IUI) which had failed and had recently been diagnosed as not being able to produce viable eggs. She and her husband decided to use donor eggs and sperm.

I treated Angela with acupuncture, prenatal vitamins and herbal formulas while she was going through fertility procedures, and she successfully became pregnant after several attempts.

Norm and Stephanie are a young couple who had been trying to start a family for a year without success.

Stephanie had irregular periods, and we began acupuncture and herbal therapies designed to regulate her cycles. Meanwhile, we ran tests on Norm's semen and found low sperm count, poor motility and abnormal morphology.

Norm was put on a Chinese herb formula to promote male fertility along with nutritional support and acupuncture treatment. Follow-up semen analysis at 3 months showed excellent results, with normal sperm count, good motility and normal morphology.

Meanwhile, Stephanie's cycles have improved and their chances of pregnancy have significantly increased.

Studies of acupuncture's effects on promoting fertility have since been published that show demonstrably positive effects.

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Thought for Today: "I don't run away from a challenge because I am afraid. Instead, I run toward it because the only way to escape fear is to trample it beneath your feet." -- Nadia Elena Comaneci