Exercise/Life Style Modification and PCOS.
It is well known that patients with PCOS have cardiovascular disease and that exercise improves the cardiovascular system. A study examined young women with PCOS for signs of cardiopulmonary dysfunction. They found decreased oxygen consumption at the anaerobic threshold and a decreased maximal workload during exercise testing. An Italian study looked at the effects of a 3 month exercise regimen on cardiopulmonary function in young women with PCOS and found that they had improved oxygen consumption and work load and decreased BMI and c-Reactive Protein, a mediator of cardiovascular disease. Similar results were reported in a Canadian study. The biological basis for this has been explored in experimental animals. In a study of rats with PCOS induced by steroid administration exercise was used to see if there were any effects on the sympathetic nervous system and ovarian polycystic morphology. They showed that exercise normalized the ovarian morphology, decreased the adrenergic receptors in the rat ovaries and decreased the NGF receptors. All of these are consistent with exercise having a beneficial effect on the apparent sympathetic nervous system hyperactivity which appears to occur in PCOS.
Exercise was even shown to improve the 'fatty liver' in one PCOS patient where biopsy was used to monitor her abnormal liver function. Thus, it is reassuring that investigations of exercise in PCOS are being done.
I would like to suggest walking 3-5 times a week. Indianapolis is lucky to have numerous 'Runs & Walks' where hundreds of people walk anywhere from 5 kilometers (3.2 miles) to the mini-marathon (13.1 miles). These walks are a lot of fun, and are well-organized. You have an "official time" which is posted on the Internet, and will see your time improve with each walk. Websites for the local walks are Tuxedo Brothers (www.tuxbro.com ), Ken Long & Associate(www.kenlongassoc.com ), and The Runners Forum (www.runnersforum.com ). You can train during the week, and do the walks on weekends. There is a real sense of accomplishment when you complete these events.
