Tackling polycystic ovary syndrome

Up to one-third of women in the UK have polycystic ovaries (i.e. 10 or more follicles per ovary detected on ultrasound). An estimated one-third of these women have polycystic ovary syndrome, usually defined in the UK as polycystic ovaries together with one or more characteristic features (hirsutism, male-pattern baldness, acne, oligomenorrhoea or amenorrhoea, obesity, or raised serum concentrations of testosterone and/or luteinising hormone [LH]). The metabolic abnormalities often associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (insulin resistance and abnormal serum lipid concentrations) also put some women with the syndrome at increased risk of developing diabetes mellitus. Here, we review the management of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.