According to researchers, women who were premature babies are more likely to have PCOS and diabetes than women who were born to term. Almost twice as many women who delivered premature babies in this study met the diagnostic criteria for PCOS. Eight of those women tested positive for diabetes, while none of the women in the term birth group did. Women delivering prematurely were more than 3 times more likely to have hirsutism than those who did not.
Not so sure the birth is the cause, but it may mean that someone whose metabolic profile was already drifting out of balance may have set the wheels in motion for more metabolic problems in the future.
This is a photo of one of my very favorite paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago. It is composed entirely of a series of painted dots which merge into a photo when observed at a distance. When I lived in Chicago, I'd go down there on snowy Sunday afternoons and stare at it for hours--I'd stand close up so I could see the dots but not make sense of the big picture. Then I'd slowly back up, never ceasing to be amazed at how Seurat, the artist, was able to keep such a beautiful, complext picture in mind the whole time he was painting individual dots.
PCOS is just like that. You can focus on one dot, or you can add the dot to your field of vision and begin to see how all the dots connect. I love this study because it is one of those dots that's important to understand. It's not just about acne, or infertility, or weight. It's about a hormone system that for whatever reason isn't coordinating functions the way it should.
Focus on one dot, with one herb, or one procedure…the one it's easiest to accept or understand…and you're guaranteed to be delivered problem after problem after problem down the line.
Step back, look at the big picture, and focus on things you can do to correct macro imbalances…and you're more likely to be able to connect dots in a meaningful way that improves your health.
Eilertsen T, Vanky E, Carlsen S. Increased prevalence of diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome in women with a history of preterm birth: a case-control study. BJOG 2011; DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2011.03206.x