Jezebel

Well, I was going to train for that marathon thingy, but now I guess...not.

That's weird. I thought polycystic ovarian syndrome was associated with obesity.

So, I should have gotten into track in high school is what this study is saying. Because maybe that would make up for the weekly need for facial waxing.

Um, well at least they have access to doctors?

Bodies are weird.

This is why I don't exercise.

Ugh, I have some of the symptoms of polycystic ovaries, not the body hair or anything, just the cysts, but they really suck. They had to be surgically cauterized off and ugh. No fun.

Whatever kind of menstrual cycle correlates with sucking at all sports beyond all belief...yeah, that's the one I have.

@blackbirdfly: Here, here.

Aren't anabolic steroids also another cause of menstrual disorders in female athletes?

Ok, so do they become hyper athletes because they develop muscle mass quicker and can breathe better to begin with, or do their bodies start the polycistic thing in response to the training? B/c I think that would be a pretty quick physical change, wouldn't it?

@blackbirdfly: You suck at all sports? I find that hard to believe... says they guy who sucks at more than things than not.

Lucky me, I got the cysts but none of those pesky muscles.

@badmutha: I think they have it and it makes them better athletes. Because they can put on muscle mass faster they get stronger, which then has the feedback effect of changing hormonal balance to support the new muscle building.

Great - all we need is a dang study to perpetuate the whole "girls who play sports are butch" stigma. Thanks, scientists.

I totally ruled at sports in high school and I had the heaviest, most regular periods ever. So there!

I have pcos. And yes, I get in shape fast, and I'm good at sports. But I'd have to develop an eating disorder to get my athletic ass in a size 12, and yet I'm still not getting into the Olympics anytime soon. Fucked again.

In related news, what is that chick doing?

Well, I have PCOS but definitely do not have teh muscles.

I do wax fairly regularly, however.

@katastic: Gravity-free yoga

@katastic: I don't know, but I'll run and catch her.

@NefariousNewt:My SIL played serious softball, even got a 4 yr college scholarship, and has had the screwy-ist periods forever, if she has one at all. They had to do invitro to have my niece. I totally believe this.

@NefariousNewt: I've been known to exaggerate from time to time for comedic effect. However, this is not one of those times. I truly suck at every sport ever invented. Especially if there is a ball involved.

Wait, does throwing darts in bars count?

@katastic: Looks like some kind of cheerleading training. You hang a ball and they have to jump that high.

@blackbirdfly: Hell yes!

I am one of those annoying types who claims she sucks at darts (because I do) and then when I drunkenly play, I kick ass.

I'm quite likely the laziest person I know, but I could excel at sports. I just don't want to. Unless it's dancing.

OK, I've got the PCOS, and while it doesn't help me with sports, it does make me gain tons of weight, have menstrual periods that run the gamut from non existent to incapacitating, slow down my thyroid and send me into major depressions from the massive and unpredictable surges of hormones. Who knew it was such a gift?

That being said, I put on upper body mass like a champ and my go-to for dispute resolution is usually arm wrestling.

Reason #1256 why playing sports makes me happy.

@badmutha: PCOS is essentially a chemical imbalance--something about your estrogen/androgen/testosterone levels being all wonky. It usually tends to be genetic and I don't think your body would develop it as a response to training.

It also really sucks. I was afraid I might have it as irregular cycles and ovarian cysts run in my family, but after extensive, expensive tests, it turns out I do not. A lot of PCOS sufferers can also have a lot of trouble conceiving, to the point of infertility in some cases, so you can see why I was freaked. Unfortunately, from my experience, a lot of docs don't really know too much about it. It's actually much more common than one would think, but you wouldn't know from the amount of doctors who really don't test effectively for it, or treat it. If you think you have it, at minimum you should get an ultrasound and various blood tests done. And don't think that just going on the pill (a common prescription) will take care of it completely--that's merely a band-aid fix that can alleviate some of the other symptoms (like acne, for instance).

I've been tested for this a few times because of my lovely lovely 'STACHE. I'm the lest athletic person ever, so if this study was available it could have saved me the "ultrasound lady pushing on my full bladder until I thought I was going to burst" doctor's appointment.
"Sev, I can tell by your tendency to mimic a slug for hours on end that you do not, in fact, have PCOS. However, you are Italian so you've got the facial hair. Enjoy."

I too have PCOS. I don't have the weird periods, but I've got the weird hair growth and the excessive sweating, the cysts, the gaining of weight, etc. etc.

Yet I suck at sports.

Damn you PCOS! It's like not even being allowed a single slice of pie after the worst Thanksgiving meal ever.

@Lydia9:

That's the lovely kind I have, too...though I haven't noticed it helping with muscle building at all.

My friend and I both were diagnosed shortly after we stopped playing high school sports. It would be interesting to see what happens to the hyper-athletes when they stop their strenuous exercise schedules-will it then be harder for them to maintain a healthy weight at a normal exercise level?

Incognegro adds another reason to why she doesnt work out. She doesnt want to have she man muscles. the ones under the fat are already quite large.

@katastic

That's the 2-foot high kick, an Eskimo event. I've seen it at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics held right here in Fairbanks Alaska.

Here's a video of a guy doing it there:

+ Watch video

and a link to WEIO
[fairbanks-alaska.com]

@badmutha: @katastic: Shes doing a traditional Eskimo game called the two foot high kick. There are big competitions in all kinds of traditional games and are generally pretty badass. Sometimes they show them on ESPN. You can check out info on the two foot high kick and other games at [www.weio.org]

@blackbirdfly: Darts is definitely a sport, well, more like an art. You play pool?

@RitoBurrito:
Yea every girl I knew who was awesome at some sport or another was also pretty regularly losing iron supplements monthly in highschool. Otherwise why did all of us always have tampons anytime someone needed one?

Former athlete here (current?). Always built muscle mass w/o trying; excelled at sports. These days, I'm back into regular workouts and amazed at how easily my body reverts back to its prime fitness, even in my 40's. Also experienced the irregular menses during my most lean years. My gf is also a former athlete with a nice toned, lean build. She builds muscle like crazy and virtually without lifting herself off the couch. She's having some fertility problems at the moment, and though I don't think she's ever been diagnosed with this, I'm getting mighty suspicious.

@aaronhoffman: Well shoot, your comment wasn't showing for me when I commented!

You've gotten to go see the games? A friend of mine has had workshops on them and we got try them out. I would love to see the super competitive folks now that I've tried some of them.

This doesn't shock me; most super athletes have various physical oddities that make them more likely to excel at various sports/activities, whether it's just being super tall or having better-than-normal oxygen efficiency in your muscles. It's not a perfectly equal playing field.

@Sev:

I've got the PCOS and I'm half Italian....and I've got the five o' clock shadow to prove it. Is hair removal a sport?

::flashes gold medal::

@half_ocelot: We should petition the Olympic Committee to get it recognized as one. I'd win the 500 metre pluck in 30 seconds flat.

@Sev: Winner gets lasered/electrolosyzed! Dreamz: I has them.

::cries into economy-sized Jolen tub::

On the other hand, I never got good at anything, especially when cheerleading, because my 28-day cycle would knock me on my ass for a week with serious cramps and migraines. I lost tons of money on gym memberships because I'd have to start my fitness regime all over again, be sore for the first week, work out for all of 3 weeks, and have to stop for a week, repeat.

I hate that.

How does this get diagnosed? I'm reading this and of course thinking, why, that laziness, moustache, irregular period stuff -- that could be me! This is why my psych major friends don't let me read their DSM-IV.

@dictator4life1:

Get a full hormone panel. If your testosterone is high, there ya go. Also, check if you have acanthosis nigricans - brown discolorations under your pits, on the sides of your legs where they meet your crotch, and at the back of your neck.

@dictator4life1: Usually you can have two different tests done. The blood work for you hormone levels and an ultra sound scan. Because it's a syndrome, rather than a disease, you might have one or two of the symptoms, without actually have PCOS.

What the hell. I have this and I'm shit at sports. All it gave me is the tendency to be really fucking fat, an ungodly amount of body hair and the acanthosis nigricanis, I have now learned, thanks to Jan74. I thought that was just my own weird thing.

I have PCOS, and my doc diagnosed it the first time I went to her. (Female docs rule!) And she said it goes longer undiagnosed in "athletic" types since it is an endocrine disorder that puts you at risk for Type 2 diabetes. So does being overweight (Type 2 risk, that is) so docs often look at that as a primary symptom.

But even us athletic-looking (I'm a klutz out of the pool) PCOSers still have an elevated risk of Type 2 - weight gain, or no! Add in potential infertility, the hair, and it's so much fun.

On the other hand, PCOS women have higher levels of testosterone (it goes along with FSH and LH, the hairy hormones). And more testosterone means more energy and a potentially higher sex drive! So I like that. In fact, my doc, upon diagnosis, said, "Have you felt energetic since getting off the pill and not having a period in 5 months?" And I said, "Well yes I have!" She told me about the testosterone and I was like, fuckers! This is why men get more done! No period tiredness!

Wait, so I can trade my PCOS fat and upper lip hair for muscles? Why wasn't this in the welcome pamphlet?

@spikenard:

Tell me about it! I read this just as I was done waxing my mustache and I have the double whammy of fat diseases, PCOS and hypothyroidism. I have always sucked at sports. I am fairly strong for a woman my size though, so I suppose the only sport this would give me an advantage in would be powerlifting, haha.

Also, as far as medication for PCOS goes, metformin > the pill. Treat the cause, not the symptoms, silly doctors who forgot your oath.

i put on a serious amount of weight when i went through puberty, and only stopped gaining when i started college, just after the freshman 15. it hasn't budged, and i owe it all to the pcos.

as for the loverly signifiers - there is a cream called vaniqa (sp) that works pretty well to get rid of facial stuff. downside - it only works as long as you use it, and is a little rough on sensitive skin.

i can haul my ass around in heels most nights; gotta love muscle mass in the legs for something!

Peppermint, Obesity does not cause PCOS, although some women who have PCOS can become obese. I would argue that obesity can be associated with PCOS, and not the other way around. There have been no studies that I've ever seen that suggest gaining weight increases your risk of getting PCOS, for example. Frequently, women who have PCOS also have insulin resistance. The insulin resistance can encourage weight gain and make it difficult to lose weight if left untreated. There are also a LOT of thin, fit women who have PCOS. In addition, losing weight may help SOME of the symptoms (but does not cure PCOS, there is no cure).

As far as the article goes, I don't think they're saying that if you have PCOS you're automatically an olympic athlete, or even necessarily better at sports. To be a good athlete, you have to train for it, and you have to have the drive and desire to do it. Just like men, if women want to be excellent athletes, they must work at it. I think the article is saying the hormonal imbalance (i.e., the increased testosterone) common to women with PCOS may give them an ever-so-slight edge over other women who don't, for example, have so much testosterone. Scientifically, it does seem plausible.