Mothers and daughters with PCOS
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There is a test drs may be able to perform to tell if your daughter is at risk for PCOS. I copied this from www.pcosdiva.com from an expert interview with Dr. Felice Gersh in CA:
"Young girls born to PCOS moms have about a 50% chance of developing PCOS themselves. Given those odds, it is really imperative for us to diagnose, with some reasonable probability, which of those daughters will and which won’t have to deal with PCOS. And there are ways to reasonably identify young girls as having a high predilection to develop PCOS.
From a physical point of view, here are the suspicious symptoms. If a very young girl, from approximately age 4 to 12 years of age, has an unusual amount of waist and belly fat, yet she eats quite well… that is a powerful clue. Estrogen regulates where fat is deposited and how it functions, so young girls destined to get PCOS may be showing signs of abnormal fat deposition and already have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight, well before puberty sets in.
There is also a blood test which has good predictability for detecting PCOS prone girls and which can be administered as early as age 6 to make a likely diagnosis! This test is called Adiponectin. I order it through the Cleveland HeartLab, a very prestigious cardiovascular laboratory, affiliated with the renowned Cleveland Clinic. Adiponectin is a type of hormone made by adipose (fat) tissue, called an Adipokine. Adiponectin is an extremely important and vital hormone to prevent inflammation, insulin resistance, and obesity. It is involved in managing how fat tissue functions, the level of inflammation in the body, how energy is produced and stored, and the transport of glucose from the blood into cells, impacting insulin resistance. Estrogen controls the production of Adiponectin. In girls prone to develop PCOS, the Adiponectin levels will be unusually low.
The finding of low Adiponectin levels raises a big red flag that the girl is at high risk to develop PCOS. The potential for Adiponectin to be used as an early screening tool means that girls at high risk to develop PCOS can be identified as young as age 6! Once identified, proactive therapies can be initiated to lower the chance of PCOS becoming severe. Lifestyle changes involving diet, sleep, stress, exercise, and nutrition can all be implemented to greatly soften the blow to health which occurs with the passage through puberty."0 -
There is a test drs may be able to perform to tell if your daughter is at risk for PCOS. I copied this from www.pcosdiva.com from an expert interview with Dr. Felice Gersh in CA:
"Young girls born to PCOS moms have about a 50% chance of developing PCOS themselves. Given those odds, it is really imperative for us to diagnose, with some reasonable probability, which of those daughters will and which won’t have to deal with PCOS. And there are ways to reasonably identify young girls as having a high predilection to develop PCOS.
From a physical point of view, here are the suspicious symptoms. If a very young girl, from approximately age 4 to 12 years of age, has an unusual amount of waist and belly fat, yet she eats quite well… that is a powerful clue. Estrogen regulates where fat is deposited and how it functions, so young girls destined to get PCOS may be showing signs of abnormal fat deposition and already have difficulty maintaining a healthy weight, well before puberty sets in.
There is also a blood test which has good predictability for detecting PCOS prone girls and which can be administered as early as age 6 to make a likely diagnosis! This test is called Adiponectin. I order it through the Cleveland HeartLab, a very prestigious cardiovascular laboratory, affiliated with the renowned Cleveland Clinic. Adiponectin is a type of hormone made by adipose (fat) tissue, called an Adipokine. Adiponectin is an extremely important and vital hormone to prevent inflammation, insulin resistance, and obesity. It is involved in managing how fat tissue functions, the level of inflammation in the body, how energy is produced and stored, and the transport of glucose from the blood into cells, impacting insulin resistance. Estrogen controls the production of Adiponectin. In girls prone to develop PCOS, the Adiponectin levels will be unusually low.
The finding of low Adiponectin levels raises a big red flag that the girl is at high risk to develop PCOS. The potential for Adiponectin to be used as an early screening tool means that girls at high risk to develop PCOS can be identified as young as age 6! Once identified, proactive therapies can be initiated to lower the chance of PCOS becoming severe. Lifestyle changes involving diet, sleep, stress, exercise, and nutrition can all be implemented to greatly soften the blow to health which occurs with the passage through puberty."
@Stacicali Was there any information about how it can identify "Skinny PCOS?" My daughter is about my height (5'4" tall) and weighs maybe 100-110, is 15 years old, etc. She obviously does not have excess fat anywhere and definitely does not have the adolescent fat I did from 6-12 and beyond years old... But she has most of the extremes in mood, the weird reactions to things, and all of that...0 -
@KnitOrMiss - the owner of the website www.pcosdiva.com (go to menu in upper left corner and click on expert interviews) has done several interviews with Dr. Gersh. I listened to a (free) podcast that has not been transcribed yet called "Reduce Inflammation and Your PCOS Symptoms." Dr. Gersh mentions identifying PCOS girls and early intervention towards the last 10 minutes, but I'm so sorry. I don't remember what exactly she said since I don't have a daughter. I do remember her talking about interventions with diet.
My personal experience if it helps: I'm a "lean" aka normal weight cyster whose mom was undiagnosed PCOS until post-menopause when she was obese because of it. I started my period early (9) -early or late menses is a PCOS risk clue from what I've read. I had horrible heavy, irregular periods (scant, irregular periods are also a clue) and terrible, oily, acne-prone skin. When the Gyns did ultrasounds, I had the stereotypical Polycystic ovaries, but they refused to diagnose (and treat) me because I wasn't overweight and didn't have facial hair. When I was in my early twenties, I stopped having periods. My primary care tested me for early menopause and finally sent me to a decent endocrinologist who diagnosed me. I started Metformin and restarted my periods. I've always had anxiety issues probably due to my high normal testosterone.
I hope your little girl has escaped this. Please listen to the Dr.Gersh interviews for more clues. She is big on controlling inflammation through diet and probiotics - both of which would probably be safe for your daughter. Keep us posted.0 -
My sister and I both have it, my mother does not. My mother has suspected it, but never had a diagnosis. But my aunt and grandmother has it.0
