The Stein-Leventhal Syndrome or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a deficiency in the hormones that causes women to have different symptoms.It is considered an endocrine disorder that is affecting more or less 5% of all women. It comes about amongst all races and nationalities PCOS syndrome is a leading cause of infertility and is the most widespread hormonal disorder among women of reproductive age.

Symptoms of polycystic ovarian syndrome are obesity, anovulation that often leads to irregular menstruation, acne and also excessive amounts of androgenic hormones. The symptoms and severity of the syndrome vary from woman to woman. PCOS syndrome causes are quite unknown except for obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance associated with PCOS syndrome.

Other symptoms are weight gain, skin discoloration, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, unusual hair growth and distribution and even dandruff. Many of these symptoms can be absent to those women who have PCOS but they will always have irregularities in their menstruation or don’t have it at all.These women do not ovulate regularly and so they do not release an egg every month and that eventually leads to irregularity of their monthly menstruation.

There is no certain cause of this disorder but it’s found out that women who have this kind of disorder have a mother and sister with PCOS but even so it’s not enough to say that it’s hereditary.More often, women with PCOS have small cysts found in their ovaries, that’s why it is called polycystic ovarian syndrome.There are comparable numbers of cysts that may take place in women without PCOS. Thus, these cysts themselves would not be the cause of this predicament.Usually the blood sugar control system in women breaks down for those women suffering from PCOS; hence most researchers believe that these are caused by PCOS development. The ovaries of women who suffer from PCOS are known to produce an excess of male hormones called androgen.This extreme production of male hormones may be an outcome of the irregularities the production of insulin.

Technorati Tags: ovarian, PCOS, syndrome