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Query: UMLS:C0018799 (heart disease)
 34,133 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The goal of the study was to compare cardiovascular heart disease risk factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and matched control subjects. Women with PCOS have risk factors, including anovulation, hyperandrogenism, and insulin resistance, that suggest a male coronary heart disease risk-factor profile. A total of 206 women with PCOS were recruited by using records from a large reproductive endocrinology practice. A clinical diagnosis of PCOS was made if there was a history of chronic anovulation in association with either clinical evidence of androgen excess (hirsutism) or if total testosterone level was > 2 nm/L or the luteinizing hormone/follicle-stimulating hormone ratio was greater than 2. The overall response rate for cases was 76%. A control population was obtained by using a combination of area voters' registration tapes and directories of households. A control subject was matched to each case subject by age +/- 5 years, race, and neighborhood. The response rate for recruitment of the first or second eligible control subject was 83.6%. The average age at initial interview was 35.9 +/- 7.4 years for case and 37.2 +/- 7.8 years for control subjects. Women with PCOS had significantly increased cardiovascular disease risk factors compared with control women. These included increases in body mass index, insulin, and triglyceride levels (P < .001), decreased total HDL and HDL2 levels (P < .01), and increased total cholesterol and fasting LDL levels, waist/hip ratio, and systolic blood pressure (P < .05).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Coronary heart disease risk factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. 760 Jan 12

Polycystic ovary syndrome has been viewed primarily as a gynecologic disorder requiring medical intervention to control irregular bleeding, relieve chronic anovulation, and facilitate pregnancy. A large body of evidence has demonstrated an association between insulin resistance and polycystic ovary syndrome. The former condition has an established link with long-term macrovascular diseases such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and atherosclerotic heart disease, consequences that also are observed in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. In addition, chronic anovulation predisposes women to endometrial hyperplasia and carcinoma. The purpose of this review is to examine the clinical course of this syndrome, which spans adolescence through menopause, and suggest a simple and cost-effective diagnostic evaluation to screen the large numbers of women who may be affected. Therapy, which should be individualized, should incorporate steroid hormones, antiandrogens, and insulin-sensitizing agents. Weight loss by way of reduced carbohydrate intake and gentle exercise is the most important intervention; this step alone can restore menstrual cyclicity and fertility, and provide long-term prevention against diabetes and heart disease. Treatment alternatives should be directed initially toward the most compelling symptom. Longitudinal care is of paramount importance to provide protection from long-term sequelae.
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PMID:Current perspectives in polycystic ovary syndrome. 1531 31

Because of major advances in diagnostic and surgical methods, females with congenital heart disease (CHD) now survive into and beyond their reproductive years. Management of pregnancy in this patient population is well described, but gynecologic management such as menstruation, contraception and menopause have received scanty attention. Accordingly, the gynecologic health issues confronting these patients are described. Menstrual patterns in acyanotic females with CHD are similar to the general population, but cyanotic females have menstrual irregularities including amenorrhea, which implies anovulation and an increased risk of uterine carcinoma. Anticoagulants predispose to heavy vaginal bleeding and corpus luteum rupture. Contraceptives must be selected according to individual patient profiles. Hormone replacement therapy is warranted for relief of menopausal symptoms as in the general population and should be relatively safe because estrogen dose is low.
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PMID:Gynecological health of females with congenital heart disease. 1570 68

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the common endocrine disorder of reproductive age women which is characterized by hyperandrogenism, chronic anovulation, and increased risk for infertility, endometrial cancer, developing metabolic dysfunction (type II diabetes, dyslipidemia), hypertension and heart disease. The syndrome is also associated with some skin disorders: hirsutismus, alopecia androgenetica and acne. The successful dermatologic therapy requires the holistic diagnosis of the women with skin disorders described above and use the antiandrogenic treatment with conventional methods and laser depilation in hirsutismus. In this paper we present literature studies and our own experiences.
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PMID:[Polycystic ovary syndrome and hair unit function disturbances in dermatological practice]. 1742 3

Polycystic ovary syndrome has a common association with anovulatory infertility, while the physical symptoms are often associated with the increased androgens that are part of the endocrine profile. There is a well-recognised association with lipid and glucose metabolism anomalies and, when undergoing ovulation induction, ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. This common condition is familial, but a contributory gene has yet to be found. The question of why a gene that predisposes to anovulation, diabetes and heart disease might have perpetuated so frequently is addressed. Three hypotheses for evolutionary advantage are discussed. The food deprivation hypothesis considers the role of the observed increase in ovulation when women with the condition lose weight in relation to seasonality. The refeeding hypothesis considers the androgenic and slightly enhanced anabolic metabolism in relation to periods of privation and the advantage of preferential early ovulation when refeeding after a period of privation. The transgenerational privation hypothesis considers the effect of persistent, severe, yet subfatal privation on individuals both in utero and throughout life. While an androgenic, anabolic state would improve efficiency in the use of food for protein synthesis and fat storage, benefiting the fetus both in relation to its in utero development and neonatal survival, survival and reproductive capacity as an adult benefits by a genotype expressing itself in women of successive generations.
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PMID:Polycystic ovary syndrome: a transgenerational evolutionary adaptation. 1848 77

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is the most common endocrine disorder in pre-menopausal women characterized by menstrual cycle disturbances, chronic anovulation, and clinical and/or biochemical hyperandrogenism. Although, the primary etiology of PCOS remains unknown, insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia plays a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of the syndrome. A growing body of recent data support that women with PCOS have displayed an increased prevelance of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors putting potentially at a hight risk for heart disease. Most of these CVD risk factors are etiologically correlated with insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia, highlighting the role of insulin sensitizers in the therapeutic quiver for the chronic treatment of PCOS. In this review, we discuss the current literature on the CVD risk factors in PCOS and the influence of insulin sensitizers upon these risk factors.
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PMID:The effects of insulin sensitizers on the cardiovascular risk factors in women with polycystic ovary syndrome. 1924 81

The increasing occurrence of obesity has become a significant public health concern. Individuals with obesity have higher prevalence of heart disease, stroke, osteoarthritis, diabetes, and reproductive disorders. Reproductive problems include menstrual irregularities, pregnancy complications, and infertility due to anovulation, in women, and lower testosterone and diminished sperm count, in men. In particular, women with obesity have reduced levels of both gonadotropin hormones, and, in obese men, lower testosterone is accompanied by diminished LH. Taken together, these findings indicate central dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis, specifically at the level of the GnRH neuron function, which is the final brain output for the regulation of reproduction. Obesity is a state of hyperinsulinemia, hyperlipidemia, hyperleptinemia, and chronic inflammation. Herein, we review recent advances in our understanding of how these metabolic and immune changes affect hypothalamic function and regulation of GnRH neurons. In the latter part, we focus on neuroinflammation as a major consequence of obesity and discuss findings that reveal that GnRH neurons are uniquely positioned to respond to inflammatory changes.
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PMID:Obesity, Neuroinflammation, and Reproductive Function. 3151 69