A new study suggests that women who have a polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can boost their chance of getting pregnant through weight loss and exercise.
PCOS is the main cause of female infertility. Infertility is not being able to get pregnant even after a year of unprotected sex. PCOS affects a woman's menstrual cycle, ability to have children, hormones, heart, blood vessels and appearance. Little is known of the cause of PCOS, but most experts believe that it is hereditary. Current treatments include lifestyle modification, birth control pills other medications and surgery, according to Office on Women's Health.
Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine involved 149 obese and overweight women who were aged 18 to 40 and were diagnosed with PCOS. They were randomly assigned to take birth control pills, change their lifestyle, and a combination of both. After the interventions, the participants were given medications to induce ovulation.
After the follow-up period, five (10 percent) of those who took birth control pills got pregnant, 13 (26 percent) of those changed their diet and exercised, and 12 (24 percent) did both. They also found that combining birth control pills with lifestyle medication also improved ovulation.
"The findings confirm what we have long suspected - that exercise and a healthy diet can improve fertility in women who have PCOS," Richard S. Legro, study co-author and Vice Chair of Research and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine, said in a press release. "Making preconception lifestyle changes is beneficial, either alone or in combination with other pretreatment options."
The study was published in the Sept. 24 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
