Women with the hormonal condition polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which leaves them facing a higher than average risk of developing diabetes, may be able to lower that risk by taking the contraceptive pill, a large study has found.
PCOS, which affects about 1 in 10 women, involves the ovaries producing too much of the male sex hormone testosterone. Those affected are more likely to be overweight and have more body hair.
They also have higher levels of insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar, and their cells are less sensitive to insulin, which together can lead to type 2 diabetes, where people have high blood sugar levels.
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A team led by at the University of Birmingham in the UK聽looked at nearly 200,000 people registered with UK family doctors, about a third of whom had PCOS, with the rest being carefully matched for other factors such as weight and age.
On average those with PCOS had nearly twice the risk of being recorded with type 2 diabetes or a 鈥減rediabetes鈥� condition of high blood sugar than the control group during the next four years. But those with PCOS who were on the pill had about three-quarters of the risk of developing type 2 diabetes or prediabetes as those with PCOS who weren鈥檛 on the pill.
The study couldn鈥檛 prove that being on the pill directly benefited people鈥檚 health, but it is plausible, as the most common types of contraceptive pill contain the female sex hormones oestrogen and progesterone, which have knock-on effects that lower testosterone levels, says Arlt.
鈥淭here could be a non-reproductive reason for women with PCOS to go on the pill,鈥� she says. Her team now plans to conduct a randomised trial to test the idea.
Diabetes Care
