A new study published recently in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism will dispel notions that birth control pills/oral contraceptives have an impact on improving fertility levels among obese and overweight women suffering from PCOS. PCOS stands for Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome, which is a result of hormonal imbalance in women.
Hitherto, women consumed oral contraceptives in order to bring regularity to their ovulation cycles by controlling the excessive release of testosterone by their endocrine glands. For increased fertility, women should have adequate quantities of estrogen. If the levels of testosterone present in a female are higher than the requisite amount of testosterone, it leads to hormonal imbalance which interferes with the reproductive ability of a woman.
But now a study has indicated that oral contraceptives may have no real impact on ameliorating fertility in women. The results from a study covering 150 subjects that were overweight and obese and who suffered from PCOS, but not from any other disease showed that fertility rates were highest amongst those who adopted changes in their lifestyle by both switching to healthier ways of eating and exercising.
The group that incorporated both healthier eating habits and exercising but not birth control pills enjoyed a fertility success rate of 24% (12 out of 50 got pregnant), whereas the group that did not adopt any lifestyle change, but ingested only the birth control pills experienced a very low fertility success rate of 10% (a mere 5 out of 50 got pregnant).
Richard S. Legro, MD, Vice Chair of Research and Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Public Health Sciences at Penn State College of Medicine stated that the findings have only confirmed an age long suspicion instead of revealing anything new. “Making pre-conception lifestyle changes are beneficial, either alone or in combination with other pre-treatment options”, he said.
