Author: Ashley Levinson
Twitter: @PCOSgurl
IG: @PCOSgurl
When life gives you lemons, you start a campaign..
Members of Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter have been taking to their timelines posting pictures of their freshly squeezed lemon faces to help people learn and spread awareness for a syndrome that is rarely talked about, but should be,
#PCOS or Polycystic Ovary syndrome is the most common endocrine disorder affecting women worldwide. Yet, of the estimated 1 in 10 women living with it, up to 70% are still undiagnosed, as public and even physician knowledge of the syndrome is limited at best.
PCOS or Polycystic Ovary Syndrome got its name because many women with PCOS have changes in their ovaries including small cysts that surrounding the ovary looking as if it is a pearl necklace on ultra sounds. However PCOS is not a gynecological problem, it is rather an endocrine disorder that changes how your body reacts to some hormones, like insulin. The body uses insulin to turn food, especially sugar, into energy with #PCOS insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance can make it harder to process insulin. High levels of insulin cause more androgens (male hormones) to be made in a woman's body. With higher levels of androgens, which all women have, a woman can show some male signs like acne, male patterned baldness or extra hair on the face/body.
Other issues that can wreak havoc on women with PCOS are weight gain, especially around the mid-section (apple shape) and infertility as hormone changes can keep a woman from having an ovum (egg) released from her ovary every month which can cause her to skip periods (amenorreah) or have problems getting pregnant. As insulin increases in a woman with this syndrome it can also lend itself to (acathosis nigracans) or darkened skin in the neck, armpits and skin tags.
The symptoms of PCOS can vary significantly from one woman to the next, therefore a woman often does not realize she may have the syndrome. Public information and awareness about the symptoms and the serious nature of the disorder are crucial to identifying women in need of treatment.
For women to make informed decisions about their health management, the information upon which they base their decisions should be accurate, current, based upon well-performed research studies, and obtained from well-informed and well-trained physicians and other caregivers. This information must be easy for the general public to find and understand. There are many sources of information available on the internet please visit @pcosgurl on Twitter to be connected with more information and professionals treating PCOS and their symptoms and support initiatives such as the current #LemonFaceChallenge for #PCOS
Let's face it, its a sour deal when....
Up to 70% of women worldwide have not been diagnosed with #PCOS
Less than 0.1% of funding is dedicated to #PCOS Research
You can not explain what's happening to your body to your friends and family
You're afraid of being judged for something beyond your control
You're very on doctor does not know what you have or how to treat
It's time to end the silence about this syndrome and we thank all of the participants for speaking up and standing out with their fun, funny and thought provoking photos...
Here is just a small sample of some of the participants....
You can view more pictures on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram use tag #LemonFaceChallenge
So grab some lemons, make a face and raise awareness..
HOW DO I PARTICIPATE
1. Bite a lemon or lemon slice
2, Take a pic or video
3. Upload to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and/or Instagram
4. Tag with #LemonFaceChallenge
5. Donate to a #PCOS Organization
PCOSCHALLENGE - http://www.pcoschallenge.org
PCOSAA- http://www.pcosaa.org
VERITY- http://www.verity-pcos.org.uk
