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Vitamin D Improves PCOS

PCOS is a hormonal disorder that affects many women of reproductive age. PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. Symptoms include poor skin, excessive body hair, hair loss, obesity, menstrual disorders, and infertility. Hormones are usually used without considering the possible causes. Vitamin D deficiency could be one of these causes. Because vitamin D – according to a study from February 2017 – improves PCOS. Optimizing the vitamin D level should therefore always be part of PCOS therapy.

Vitamin D regulates the PCOS cycle

A February 2017 meta-analysis found that vitamin D supplementation may help women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). The vitamin D administration contributed to the regulation of the menstrual cycle (which in PCOS usually occurs without ovulation proceeds) and to regulating egg cell development.

High blood pressure, cardiovascular problems, and diabetes can also develop as secondary diseases in affected women. Depression is also more common in PCOS patients than in healthy women.

Most PCOS patients are vitamin D deficient

Research has shown that vitamin D receptors are abundant throughout the reproductive system (uterus and ovaries). Vitamin D, therefore, appears to play an important role in fertility and acts directly on the reproductive organs.

Since a pronounced vitamin D deficiency was also found in 67 to 85 percent of all PCOS patients (below 20 ng/ml), it can be assumed that such a deficiency promotes the development of PCOS, aggravates its symptoms, or thwarts improvement.

In previous studies on the role of vitamin D in PCOS therapy, no consistent result could be achieved. The number of participants was usually too small or different markers were used, making it impossible to compare the results.

Study on the effect of vitamin D on PCOS

Scientists from the Chinese Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, have now shed light on this by examining all 463 studies currently available on this subject in a meta-analysis. Their findings were published in February 2017 in the journal Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice.

In order to find out whether vitamin D supplementation makes sense for PCOS patients, only those studies that met the following criteria were selected from the studies mentioned:

  • The studies had to be randomized and controlled.
  • Participants had to have received a PCOS diagnosis according to the criteria of one of the following societies: the Rotterdam European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE), the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ASRM), or the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development ( NOTHING).
  • The studies had to compare the effect of a vitamin D supplement with the effect of metformin (which is often used to treat PCOS) or with a placebo group.
  • The study participants had no other medical conditions.

Of the 463 studies mentioned, only nine met the listed criteria. Six of these studies compared the effects of vitamin D to a placebo, and the other three to metformin.

Vitamin D promotes egg cell maturation and regulates the menstrual cycle

The administered dose of vitamin D varied greatly in the individual studies, namely between 400 and 12,000 IU of vitamin D per day. It was shown that with the help of vitamin D, the probability of proper oocyte maturation increased. Even when patients were already taking metformin, supplementing with vitamin D was able to regulate the menstrual cycle better than metformin alone.

For PCOS: Determine vitamin D levels and take vitamin D

A comprehensive PCOS diagnosis therefore always includes determining the vitamin D level. If a deficiency is detected, the vitamin D dose that leads to a healthy vitamin D level as quickly as possible must be prescribed.

We have already explained here that the vitamin D levels that are officially considered healthy are still far too low from the point of view of orthomolecular physicians and that clearly higher levels of depression through vitamin D levels should be aimed at instead.

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Written by Micah Stanley

Hi, I'm Micah. I am a creative Expert Freelance Dietitian Nutritionist with years of experience in counseling, recipe creation, nutrition, and content writing, product development.

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