1. A student is discussing PCOS with their professor. The professor states that all of the following are causes of anovulation as seen with PCOS except:
c. Increase of SHBG production
Anovulation as with PCOS is a result of increased ovarian androgen production, disorders that affect the release of both LH and FSH, insulin resistance, and actually a DECREASE in SHBG(sex hormone-binding globulin. Insulin stimulates androgen secretion by the ovarian stroma and reduces serum sex-hormone binding globulin directly and independently.
2. Which of the following symptoms would you expect to see in a patient with PCOS? Select all that apply.
a. Obesity, c. oligomenorrhea, d. hyperandrogenism
Characteristics of PCOS typically resent during or after puberty. Those symptoms include obesity, menstrual disturbances, oligomenorrhea, amenorrhea, hyperandrogenism, and infertility. Some women can be asymptomatic. Polymenorrhea is a cycle that is less than 21 days apart. Anorexia is not seen with PCOS.
3. Which of the following methods is how a diagnosis of PCOS is confirmed?
d. Serum androgen, LH, and FSH levels
Diagnosis is confirmed by increased serum androgens, and an increase in LH with a normal FSH level. A transvaginal ultrasound is performed but not all women present with polycystic ovaries, so it cannot confirm a diagnosis alone.
4. As a patient with PCOS ages, she is at an increased risk for which of the following?
c. Uterine cancer
As a woman with PCOS ages, she is three times more likely to have uterine cancer than a woman who ovulates regularly due to the lack of progesterone associated with anovulation.
5. Which of the following would not be considered a first-line treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome?
a. Using insulin to decrease blood glucose levels
Type 2 diabetes is associated with PCOS. Type 2 diabetes is not insulin dependent, it is insulin resistant. The first-line treatment options for PCOS include lifestyle modifications which include weight loss and regular exercise.