A to Z Diseases
What is Pcod disease in the female? Homeopathic Treatment For PCOD
It was late in the evening and we were nearing the closing time of our clinic. It had been a busy day and I was exhausted. As I was winding up the last case, the front office executive came hesitatingly and informed Ma’am, just now a lady with her daughter came in and could I attend to her. I enquired if she informed them it was closing time, she replied in affirmative and added the lady was so distraught and insistent in meeting the doctor that she thought of informing. I asked her to send them in.
A middle-aged woman entered the chamber with a teenager. As they came in the lady lamented that doctor my daughter’s life is ruined, after calming her down I enquired to state what happened, the lady replied that my daughter has been diagnosed with PCOD and I believe that if you have PCOD then you cannot have children. I glanced at the girl; she was about an eighteen-year-old young girl, fair with big round eyes, curly hair, and facial hair slightly visible. After calming down the mother, I scheduled an appointment for next day and reassured her that Homeopathy can definitely help her daughter. As I was traveling back to my house, my thoughts went back to the young girl. It was the sixth case of PCOD from that morning and come to think of it out of every ten female patients I attend invariably at least three to four of them suffer from PCOD and with growing ambition and competition the incidence of PCOD also seems to be rising in the young women.
What is PCOD?
The women reproductive organs consist of a pair of egg releasing organ called ovaries connected to the uterus (womb) by two tubes known as fallopian tubes. Generally in women of reproductive age every month an ovary develops one egg in a fluid-filled sac called follicle and nurtures it until mature and then releases it by rupturing the follicle. The ovary not only helps to produce eggs, but it also secretes few hormones like oestrogen, progesterone (Primary female hormones) and a small amount of male hormone Androgen. Due to an imbalance in these hormones the ovary gets dotted with many immature follicles giving it a “string of pearl” appearance with the absence of ovulation. The increased amount of male hormone causes undesirable changes in the body like the development of mustache, beard and body hair. The hormonal imbalances can also cause acne, hair fall, obesity, irregular menstrual cycles, infertility, and hypoglycemic agent resistance.
What causes PCOD?
Though the exact cause for PCOD is not known few factors which have been suspected are:
- Hormones- Hormonal imbalance is thought to be one of the major cause. As stated above if due to any reason the balance between progesterone, oestrogen and androgen is disturbed if the due to any reason then it not affects ovulation but it also leads to other undesirable effects.
The role of hypoglycemic hormone in PCOD is not completely understood but hypoglycemic agent resistance is found to be associated with PCOD. Hypoglycemic Hormone which helps in carbohydrate metabolism also helps in stimulating secretion of male hormone; hence higher hypoglycemic agent level would mean higher levels of androgens leading to PCOD.
- Genetics– It has been found that the incidence of PCOD is higher in women having the positive family history.
- Obesity-can lead to hormonal imbalance causing PCOD
- Stress– It has been noted that PCOD is more common in women who are in chronic stress due to any reason. The stress could be study related, job-related, household affairs. Or any other. Whenever our body is under stress, The Pituitary gland which controls other endocrine glands stimulates Adrenal glands to release their hormones which include Adrenal Androgens besides other cortical hormones. The increased level of this Androgens leads to hormonal imbalance causing PCOD.
- Lifestyle– With more and more women opting for a career, the stress associated with it along with disturbed sleep pattern due to shifts, irregular diet, fast foods are also found to be linked with growing incidence of PCOS.
- Other reasons include sedentary habits, poor diet, other hormonal problems like hypothyroidism
What are the Signs and Symptoms?
Signs and Symptoms of PCOD includes-
- Irregular menstrual cycles- either too early or too late maybe one of the early sign of PCOD
- Scanty or heavy menstrual flow is another feature of PCOD. The color of the flow may also be initially brownish or blackish indicating Chocolate cyst
- Severe Dysmenorrhoea (Painful menses) or abdominal cramps. Pain in the ovarian region may be present in a few women.
- Infertility- PCOD has been found to be associated with infertility due to non-release of egg
- Weight gain, acne, hair fall and the development of unwanted hair (Hirsutism) are other symptoms of PCOD
- Some may have darkening and thickening of the skin in patches especially behind the neck, arm pits a condition known as Acanthosis Nigricans.
How is PCOS diagnosed?
PCOD/PCOS is diagnosed with the help of ultrasound scanning, pelvic examination by gynecologist, blood tests for hormonal levels.
What is the treatment for PCOD?
There is no permanent treatment for PCOD. Treatment is based on the symptoms to alleviate it and life style modifications. Treatment includes oral pills to regulate menstrual cycle for those suffering from it, diabetic medications like metformin to combat hypoglycemic hormone resistance, anti oestrogen drugs like clomphiphane, laser or electrolysis removal of unwanted hair. Surgical intervention by laparoscopic ovarian drilling or partial ovarian resection may be performed in extreme cases.
Lifestyle modifications like reducing weight by having a properly balanced diet, exercise, avoiding fast foods and carbonated drinks, regular sleep pattern and maintaining a healthy and active lifestyle.
Homeopathy treatment with its constitutional approach dwells not only into the symptoms but goes depth of the disease to remove the cause of it. The medications are based on the patient’s emotional, psychological and physical makeup. By doing so it not only helps to control the external signs like unwanted hair growth, acne etc, it also helps to correct the hormonal imbalance thereby regulating ovulation, thus not only helping in control of the symptoms but also provide the cure without any undesired side effects.
