Page 56 - Prevention - USA (April 2020)
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H E A LTH
PCOS appearance, and that’s when the research in the early ’90s that looked at
diagnosis is missed,” says Dr. Millheiser. both men and women, it’s now clear that
First, your doctor will likely rule out the actual ratio is more like two to three
thyroid disease and depression, which men for every woman with the condition.
can present with similar symptoms. Also, Yet most physicians still miss the signs in
if your pelvic pain gets worse just before women, says Grace Pien, M.D., an assis-
your period starts and you’re feeling irri- tant professor of medicine at the Johns
table or experiencing symptoms such as Hopkins University School of Medicine.
hair thinning or hair loss, hot flashes, or One reason is that women can have
night sweats, these could be signs of vague symptoms—things like chronic
perimenopause—which can begin up to fatigue, feeling down, and weight
10 years before your period stops. gain—that prompt many docs to treat
If your doctor prescribes a treatment them for conditions like low thyroid
for your symptoms and it doesn’t work, and mood disorders, says Dr. Pien. “A
it’s worth reevaluating the diagnosis, says lot of providers still have this predefined
Margaret E. Long, M.D., an assistant notion of a patient who has sleep apnea
professor of obstetrics and gynecology being a middle-aged overweight male,”
at Mayo Clinic. “Tell your doctor, ‘You she says. “This means a lot of women
suggested this, I tried it as long as you aren’t even asked questions about their
said I should, and it’s not working— sleep.” There’s also the fact that while
what’s the next step?’ If you don’t get many women urge their husbands to see
a satisfactory response—a different a sleep specialist if they snore or have
dose, a different therapy, or further bouts of stopping breathing and then
investigation—see another doctor.” gasping for air in the middle of the
night, men don’t often do the same with
regard to their wives.
PROTECT YOURSELF
ENDOMETRIOSIS AND PCOS
If your periods are irregular or
you have some telltale signs of
PCOS, mention endometriosis
and PCOS to your physician.
Until recently, sleep specialists
SLEEP thought that for every woman DAN SAELINGER/TRUNK ARCHIVE.
out there with sleep apnea—a
APNEA
disorder that increases the risk
of high blood pressure, heart
failure, and stroke—there
were nine or 10 men with it. Thanks to
