What Are Common PCOS Symptoms? - Dr. Cobin (VIDEO)

Dr. Cobin:
Women come to doctors seeking help for a number of reasons and again, there are a number of aspects of polycystic ovary syndrome that might draw a woman to a doctor’s attention depending upon where she is in life.

So for instance, a very young teenager might have actually started developing or having periods earlier than appropriate, and that can be an early warning of polycystic ovaries.

Once a woman has started puberty, it’s very common to have irregular periods, to skip periods, or to miss periods altogether. So that’s another reason that can bring a woman to a doctor’s attention. Some women come because of the skin disorders: acanthosis, which I mentioned; hirsutism, which is excess hair on the face and the body; acne, and sometimes loss of scalp hair in a woman.

So all of those can be presenting signs, so it can be periods, can be dermatologic disorders, or if a woman has waited long enough, sometimes her presenting symptom is difficultly in achieving a pregnancy. So women sometimes will present to her primary doctor or to an infertility specialist with difficulty ovulating and hence becoming pregnant.

About Dr. Cobin, M.D., M.A.C.E.:
Dr. Rhoda Cobin is Past-President of the American College of Endocrinology, a Past-President of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE), and a Master of the American College of Endocrinology (ACE). Dr. Cobin has been in private practice in northern New Jersey for 31 years. She is a Clinical Professor of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City and is Co-Chief of the Mount Sinai's Thyroid/Endocrinology Clinic.

Visit Dr. Cobin at the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists

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• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome