If you are suffering from hormonal imbalance, PCOS could be an important underlying factor. There is a safe, natural way to reverse PCOS and restore your hormonal balance.

This web site includes an abundance of research and detailed information on PCOS and how it can affect your hormones. In order to provide you easy choices in learning about PCOS and your hormonal imbalance, we've provided "a Short Version" of the key information to help you more effectively control your PCOS. For those of you who wish to read more in depth information on PCOS and hormones please read "The Whole Story" below.

We have also included four boxes (links) that provide a pathway to easily navigate a few key pages on this site. Please choose whichever path is most useful to you.

"The Short Version"

• Hormone production is a complex process that can be seriously disrupted if you have PCOS
• If you have PCOS you may experience elevated levels of testosterone, DHEA-S, androstenedione, prolactin, and LH
• Estrogen levels could be normal, high, or low in PCOS depending upon other biological conditions described below
• There is a safe, natural course of action to reverse PCOS, insulin resistance, providing you the opportunity to rebalance your hormones

Insulite provides a comprehensive, natural system to reverse insulin resistance and PCOS. Learn how - click the link below "How the System Works for You"

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"The Whole Story"

Just as the clinical symptoms of PCOS vary from woman to woman, so too the hormonal imbalance of PCOS varies with the individual. Knowing the background of how hormones work in your body may be helpful to understanding the lack of uniformity of hormone levels among women with PCOS.

A hormone is simply a substance produced by a gland and released into your body, usually into the bloodstream. Then the hormone is transported to your tissues where it regulates specific functions. Hormones bind to receptors at the target tissues, and this receptor- binding mediates the actions of your hormones. Sometimes hormones act locally at or near the gland in which they are produced rather than traveling through your bloodstream.

Hormones can be built from a few different basic backbones including protein, amino acids, fatty acids, and cholesterol. The primary hormones affected in PCOS are the steroid hormones which utilize cholesterol as a building block. These include the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone, and androgens (testosterone, DHEA, and androstenedione: the "male" hormones).

Numerous glands produce your hormones. The major production of sex hormones in humans occurs in the ovaries in females, the testes in males, and the adrenal glands of both sexes. The ovaries are paired, small, oval organs attached to the uterus by a ligament.

The ovary knows when and how much of a given hormone to secrete based on information provided by the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, both located in the brain. When functioning normally, the hypothalamus releases GnRH (Gonadotropin Releasing Hormone) which tells the pituitary gland to release FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) and LH (Luteinizing Hormone) which stimulate the ovaries to make estrogen, progesterone, and androgens. This feedback loop between your ovaries and brain is one way that hormone levels are controlled in your body.

The adrenal glands also make some of your sex hormones, among the many other substances synthesized in these paired, pyramid-shaped organs sitting atop the kidneys. Of the hormones important in the condition of PCOS, the adrenal gland produces DHEA, DHEA sulfate (DHEA-S), and androstenedione (a precursor to testosterone). These are the masculinizing hormones that cause symptoms in PCOS such as acne and excess hair growth. Like the ovaries, hormone production in the adrenal gland is also controlled via a feedback loop with the hypothalamus and pituitary gland in the brain.

As you can see, hormone production and release is quite complicated and may be prone to individual variation based on many factors. However, there are some common patterns that emerge when looking at the hormone levels of women with PCOS.

Typically we would expect to see some the following sex hormones be elevated in PCOS: testosterone, DHEA-S, androstenedione, prolactin, and LH. Again, LH is released by the pituitary gland and it acts directly on the ovary in the feedback loop mentioned above. Estrogen levels could be normal, high, or low in PCOS and here's why:

If you have PCOS, elevated LH stimulates the ovary to produce too many androgens. Normally, another hormone released by the pituitary gland called FSH could stimulate cells in the ovary to convert the extra androgens to estrogen. However, the level of FSH in a woman with PCOS is decreased relative to the high LH levels, so the conversion to estrogen may not happen. But in some women the excess LH may induce not only high levels of androgens from the theca cells of the ovary but also increased estrogen from other cells in the ovary, while in other women with PCOS, some excess androgens can be peripherally converted to estrogen, not in the ovaries but elsewhere in the body. Furthermore, progesterone is often low if you have PCOS creating a relative estrogen excess in relation to progesterone. This diversity of pathways illustrates why the levels of estrogen in women with PCOS can vary greatly, ranging from low to normal to high.

While the above hormones tend to be high in PCOS, the following hormones are often low: FSH, progesterone, and Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). Under normal circumstances, progesterone increases after ovulation when the corpus luteum secretes progesterone. Every month, a follicle containing an egg matures and then releases the egg for fertilization. The remaining follicle becomes the corpus luteum, a temporary structure that manufactures and secretes the hormones progesterone and estrogen.

Therefore, progesterone is low in those women with PCOS who have irregular menstrual cycles where the egg is not released and ovulation does not occur. If your progesterone is low, this would induce the feedback loop whereby the hypothalamus "tells" the pituitary gland to make more LH which in a woman without PCOS would successfully result in more progesterone being made, but in PCOS the increased LH simply furthers the existing hormonal imbalance.

SHBG binds to estrogen and testosterone in the bloodstream. In PCOS, the level of SHBG is decreased probably due to a number of factors. First, with elevated androgen levels, any available SHBG is quickly bound up to the excess hormones. Also, SHBG may be reduced by excess insulin levels, and women with PCOS tend to have elevated insulin in the blood.

Any discussion of PCOS would be incomplete without mentioning insulin. Insulin plays an important role in the hormonal imbalance of PCOS, but a role that is still not entirely understood. The ovaries of women with PCOS appear to be more sensitive to the effects of insulin, producing more testosterone and androstenedione in response to excessive insulin levels. Also, as mentioned above, insulin reduces SHBG thereby allowing more testosterone to be unbound and therefore more "active."

The Insulite PCOS System is an excellent tool for correcting some of the hormonal imbalances described above. The herbs used in the Insulite PCOS System can help to increase SHBG, reduce testosterone and insulin, correct relative progesterone deficiency, reduce elevated prolactin levels, enhance corpus luteal function, and normalize the menstrual cycle.

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Learn How the System Works

• Are there any stimulants in the Insulite PCOS System products?
  
• How long do I have to take the Insulite PCOS System? (e.g. will I be able to stop after 6 months without symptoms returning?)
  
• How many pills are there to take every day?

Read about PCOS and Skin Conditions