PCOS Review Newsletter #73

A free health newsletter for women with polycystic ovary syndrome or polycystic ovaries.

Issue #073      January 16, 2009 Bill Slater, Research Associate

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1) Vitamin D Study - Will You Participate?

2) How to Control Hirsutism (Excessive Hair)

3) Raise Your Spirits in 2009

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1) Vitamin D Study - Will You Participate?

If you've been reading our newsletters for any length of time, you've noticed that we talk frequently about vitamin D. Women with PCOS may tend to have lower vitamin D levels than other people. Why is this relevant to you?

Vitamin D is plays an important role in reducing insulin resistance, which is an insulin disorder that leads to weight gain, hair problems, acne, infertility and ultimately to chronic disorders such as diabetes or heart disease. Vitamin D helps you to reduce these problems.

Vitamin D also helps you to prevent osteoporosis (bone loss).

Vitamin D plays an important role in many aspects of your biochemistry. It definitely plays a role in helping you to manage polycystic ovary syndrome and infertility.

This is why our d-pinitol supplement includes a generous amount of vitamin D.

There has been a lot of talk in the scientific community lately about a vitamin D deficiency that is much more widespread than we previously thought.

It's more important than ever that you get a vitamin D test and find out whether or not you are deficient. Some concerned scientists have started a study to find out how prevalent the vitamin D deficiency is.

We invite you to participate in this study. You only have to answer a few questions and invest $30 for a vitamin D test that you can do in your own home. You can get re-tested every six months and check your progress. This would be a smart thing to do especially if you're taking the d-pinitol supplement or some other vitamin D supplement. You can take your vitamin D test results and share them with your doctor.

For more information, go to www.grassrootshealth.net.

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2) How to Control Hirsutism (Excessive Hair)

A recent study of women with PCOS at the UCLA School of Medicine has shown that the hormone insulin is directly related to the severity of hirsutism. Hirsutism is the presence of excessive facial and body hair.

In other words, the higher your insulin level, the more severe the hair problem. Unfortunately, women with PCOS are very likely to have insulin levels that are abnormally high. So it's no surprise that hirsutism is a problem.

If you have an issue with abnormal facial or body hair, you'll want to lower your insulin levels.

The first step is always to improve the quality of your diet so that your body does not have to produce so much insulin. This is extremely important because PCOS women tend to over-produce insulin in response to the standard American meal. Your meals need to be different, as we describe in our PCOS diet book.

Second, you'll need to make exercise part of your daily routine. Exercise helps you to control insulin.

Third, you can take supplements like chromium, which helps insulin do its job, and thus you need less insulin. This is why chromium is included in the d-pinitol formula.

Fourth, you can take pharmaceuticals such as metformin, which also help you to get by with less insulin. The problem with metformin is that it has side effects, including an induced vitamin B12 deficiency.

Source:
Linday M et al, Degree of hyperinsulinemia, independent of androgen levels, is an important determinant of the severity of hirsutism in PCOS, Fertil Steril. 2008 Aug 21. [Epub ahead of print]

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3) Raise Your Spirits in 2009

Does any of this describe you?

You're feeling blue. You don't see yourself as attractive. You feel unfeminine. You're having trouble starting a family. You go on occasional eating binges and feel guilty afterwards. You're not following through with your exercise as you'd like. The economy sucks. Your job is in jeopardy. You're tired of taking medications.

The list seems endless.

It can be easy to become discouraged, frustrated, angry, sad or depressed. Or to feel isolated.

This is a good time to think about how you will make the year 2009 different. And better.

A good first step in welcoming in change is to accept and embrace where you are, including all of those difficult emotions.

Resistance not only gives painful emotions power, it causes us to suffer needlessly.

As you settle into acceptance, here are three things you might do:

1. Find a good listener.

Unfortunately this is the last thing we think of doing when we're feeling blue but, it can be enormously helpful to get your feelings up and out of your body.

It's important to choose someone who will simply listen without judgment or trying to fix you. Choose a loved one and ask for what you need by saying: "I'm having a tough time right now and I need to talk for a little while. I really want someone to listen without giving advice or trying to fix my situation. Are you up for it?"

2. Let the power of nature heal you.

Whenever you feel sad, lonely, frustrated or upset in some way, get out into nature. Take part of a day off to visit to the local mountains, river, or desert. Or go to the beach and let the vastness of the ocean shift your perspective. You can take a hike in the woods to observe the plants and wildlife.

Have lunch in a park near your home, or even open your front door and sit on the stoop. Allow the fresh air, change in temperature and beauty of the outdoors to calm and raise your spirits.

3. Neutralize your negative thoughts.

When we're upset, our low mood is fueled by our thoughts. For example, most people who feel depressed usually think things like: "This is the beginning of the end," or, "I'm afraid this feeling will last forever," and "There's nothing good in my life." Speaking to ourselves in this way perpetuates the problem.

It can be difficult to shift your thinking when you're feeling upset so try using a tangible tool. For example, choose an object, a talisman of sorts, to remind you to shift your thinking.

Let's say you're feeling frightened about your tenuous financial situation. Put a small, smooth rock in your pocket and throughout the day, each time you touch the rock, remind yourself: "I am attracting abundance to me right now." In this way, the talisman becomes a trigger to remind you to replace your negative thoughts with positive ones.

Repetitious prayer is another useful tool. Choose a favorite prayer, chant, or mantra and quietly repeat it to yourself as soon as you notice your negative thinking. You might even purchase a set of prayer beads and when you feel particularly upset, sit down, close your eyes and complete a round on the beads. This will shift your perspective and calm your mind.

We wish you a healthy, enjoyable and prosperous 2009.

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Thought for Today: "Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can." -- Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr.