Visit Doctors
Visit
Visit
Call Doctors
Call
Call
Ask Doctors
Ask
Ask
Feed
Home
24 years
Does it have a permanent treatment?
Apr 29, 2015

Dr. Zakia Dimassi Pediatrics
I am not sure what you mean by "permanent" treatment, but I assume that you mean a curative treatment. The cysts on the ovaries in PCOS can be controlled with oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), which contain either or both the 2 main female hormones, estrogen and progesterone. OCPs should also take care of other manifestations of PCOS, such as hirsutism (excess hair especially in areas of the body where women usually do not grow much hair) and acne. 
But prior to considering medical treatment, a very important component of PCOS therapy is weight management in case of overweight and obese patients: a combination of alimentary diet and exercise is one of the cornerstones of PCOS treatment.
A 3rd option is a drug called metformin: the recommendation is to use metformin in women with PCOS
who have type 2 diabetes, or evidence of impaired glucose tolerance "IGT" who fail to improve after following lifestyle modification.
IGT is a condition where blood glucose is raised beyond normal levels, but not high enough to warrant diagnosis of full-fledged diabetes. In IGT, blood glucose reaches 7.8 mmol/L or more but less than 11.1mmol/L after a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), which is a blood test where you are asked to take a sugary drink; your blood glucose is measured before and at intervals after the sugary drink is taken.
 • 
Dr. Ralph Papas Obstetrics & Gynecology
Hi!
There is a permanent medical treatment used to control symptoms of PCOS women with hyperandrogenism (acne, hirsutism etc...). The typical treatment is a specific type of Oral Contraceptive Pills.

For PCOS patients with infertility there is no permanent medical treatment.
Metformin shoud be used only in patients with glucose intolerenec i.e. predisposition to Diabetes. Otherwise metformin in PCOS patients might work  to releive symptoms and to stimulate ovulation but the evidence for or against it is controversial.
The evidence says that the best medication to stimulate ovulation in PCOS patients is Clomid.

But your best bet to control PCOS as well as infertility related to PCOS, if you're overweight, is to loose weight using a combination of low-carb diet and exercise.
 •