Women’s health is particularly delicate, especially if you have a hectic lifestyle, which includes undisciplined sleep and food timings. There are several cases where women working in higher positions with increased stress levels have been diagnosed with borderline diabetes. The delicate part of women’s physiology is not the strength and endurance; those can be developed with practice; it is the hormonal function and metabolism. The female metabolism has always been the reason why women are asked not to indulge in alcohol. Other fat-increasing foods like processed sugars and junk foods also affect women faster than men. Women in the new age lifestyle overlook all of these delicate factors of the female body, and it leads to severe hormonal and metabolic imbalances. These imbalances are the cause of reproductive failure, which is only one of the effects of PCOD (polycystic ovary disorder).
Understanding PCOD
Women in their late 20s or 30s start experiencing an inevitable drop in menstrual rates and a disturbance in their menstrual cycles. Generally, it begins with a missed period, which doesn’t result in a pregnancy. The period has been delayed by a month or more, meaning the ovaries have not released any eggs. If this delay happens several times a year, it could also mean a problem with fertility. This requires a better understanding of how the hormones work in the female body.
Estrogen, progesterone, and androgens are the hormones responsible for female fertility and proper reproductive function. The ovaries secrete estrogen and progesterone, which affect egg health. They also control the physiological attributes that make you female, like no body hair, lean physique, or regular periods. Androgen, on the other hand, is a male sex hormone. Both men and women have both androgen and estrogen, the balance of which defines the libido, fertility, and moods in both genders.
While androgens are necessary for a definitive quantity in women to initiate or retain sex drive, an increase above the required numbers can lead to an imbalance in menstrual cycles and ovulation timings. Androgens are the reason why some women face an increase in body and facial hair along with irregular menstrual cycles. Untimely ovulation can also lead to further infertility and can become a painful problem because egg follicles not released can turn into cysts over time.
What Causes PCOD?
PCOD is not an illness but a disorder of the hormones. The lifestyle generally causes a hormonal disorder we lead along with the food choices. For example, uncontrolled consumption of soy products like soy milk and soybean oil can cause testosterone decline in men. At the same time, extensive consumption of nuts, crab, or shellfish can lead to lower estrogen and higher testosterone in women. Similarly, there are a plethora of lifestyle choices that lead to hormonal disbalance in women.
Food choices
One of the main reasons for androgens to grow in women is junk food. There are too many spices and semi-cooked meat in today’s street food that can cause a spike in the androgen levels, disrupting the menstrual cycle. Women have sensitive endocrine systems (the glands that control hormone secretion), which can easily get disrupted with processed foods and some sauces used in junk food. This is why it is generally observed that PCOD and obesity go hand in hand. Developing PCOD causes a woman to gain more weight faster, and being obese due to food disorders can lead to PCOD.
Lifestyle
Environmental factors like stress, both mental and physical, are also one of the causes of PCOD. The stress hormone- cortisol- can cause estrogen and androgen levels to fluctuate and is secreted frequently. Hence, women working jobs that have a higher stress level or require them to work non-stop for hours are always at a risk of hormonal imbalance that can slowly cause the menstrual cycles to fail and hinder ovulation. The same goes with women who are facing mental strain in their homes due to work or relationships.
Another lifestyle choice that has caused PCOD problems in most women are tobacco smoking and alcohol consumption. The modern world tells the contemporary man and woman that alcohol and cigarettes are a stress relief activity. The truth states otherwise. Distilled spirits like whiskey and vodka disturb dopamine secretion and dopamine receptors, which decide how happy or sad you feel, so it just fools your brain about having no stress, at least for the hours that you’re drunk. When the booze fades away, you must have felt the depression and stress coming back tenfold. Cigarettes are worse; smoking one elevates your heart and creates a sense of emergency in the body, which is why most smokers have the notion that it helps them concentrate. However, the sudden increase in the body's stress causes the higher release of cortisol, leading to hormonal imbalances.
Along with all these vices also comes casual sex, where women have been using birth control pills, causing their reproductive system to malfunction, and multiple usages lead to ovarian decline. The mentally and physically healthier way is to go for love with a single partner instead of flings or make sure that you use condoms instead of taking pills later.
What happens with PCOD?
PCOD, or Polycystic Ovary Disease, is mild in the beginning, and the only few symptoms are irregular periods, getting facial hair, and having male pattern baldness. However, if left untreated, PCOD can go on to cause the eggs in the ovaries to turn into cysts; this can be painful as it can completely shut off the ovaries and fill them with cysts. PCOD can also lead to dangerously uncontrollable diabetes as the insulin receptors in the body start to shut down. Infertility is another problematic part of having to deal with PCOD. Out of all the causes of PCOD, making changes in food and inculcating a daily exercise routine can significantly help to keep the hormones in control.
PCOD is not a disease to be afraid of; there are no cases that lead to fatality directly from PCOD. Most PCOD patients have come out of PCOD just a year after diagnosis. The right kind of nutrition and lifestyle changes can quickly help you reverse the symptoms of PCOD. A little supplementation can help, too, Namyaa’s Aarthava PCOD and PCOS Kit is made of rare certified Ayurvedic herbs and plant extracts that supplement the body with enzymes that help in balancing the hormones and fight diabetes, obesity, irregular periods, and other symptoms of PCOD.
