| One of the most distressing symptoms of polycystic | | | | insulin, so blood sugar levels stay high. To lower blood |
| ovarian syndrome, also known as PCOS, is female | | | | sugar levels, the pancreas produces still more insulin. |
| hair loss. Hair loss in women caused by PCOS is an | | | | Cells then become even more insulin-resistant, and so |
| indirect of result of a phenomenon called insulin | | | | on. |
| resistance. | | | | The ovaries, however, do not ever resist insulin. All a |
| Insulin resistance is often given a circular definition, as in | | | | woman's eggs are with her for a lifetime, and the |
| "Insulin resistance occurs when cells resist insulin." | | | | ovaries must never, ever be deprived of glucose. The |
| Actually, in PCOS, the problem is that cells in the | | | | ovaries do not resist insulin. |
| ovaries do not resist insulin. | | | | So when a woman habitually overeats, even if her |
| Blood sugar levels, even in women who do not have | | | | fasting blood sugar levels are normal, the ovaries are |
| diabetes, go up after eating sweets. Women who | | | | flooded with sugar. There's nothing for them to do but |
| indulge in too many sweets too often (and this is not | | | | to use it for energy, and that's the problem in PCOS. |
| necessarily a moral failing, it usually relates to still other | | | | Ovaries don't just make estrogen. They also make |
| hormonal issues) tend to have high blood sugar levels | | | | testosterone. And testosterone, as many women with |
| more or less constantly. | | | | PCOS find out to their chagrin, can cause male-pattern |
| Ordinarily, insulin transports glucose sugar from the | | | | baldness even in females. |
| bloodstream into cells that use it for fuel. The process | | | | The easiest way to stop the production of |
| of "burning" sugar results in the creation of byproducts | | | | testosterone that causes hair loss is to stop the insulin |
| known as free radicals. | | | | resistance that forces the ovaries (and a few other |
| About 99.99 per cent of free radicals are captured by | | | | kinds of tissue) to absorb excess blood sugar. And the |
| antioxidants. The 1 free radical in 10,000 that escapes, | | | | easiest way to stop insulin resistance? Eat less! |
| however, can damage the cell, particularly the DNA of | | | | Low-calorie dieting that results in just the loss of 2 to 5 |
| the cell. To stop this from happening, cells have | | | | pounds may be enough to set the whole system back |
| mechanisms that keep them from being flooded with | | | | in balance. If hair loss has been recent, it may even |
| sugar just because there is a lot of sugar in the | | | | restore hair that has fallen. But if you are seeking the |
| bloodstream. This mechanism is known as insulin | | | | answer to the question of how to prevent hair loss in |
| resistance. | | | | PCOS, the answer is simple: Eat less! |
| Insulin resistance becomes a vicious cycle. Cells resist | | | | |