KARACHI: A large number of women population in Pakistan is suffering from the Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder common among women of reproductive age, but most of them don’t get the treatment due to unawareness and lack of information about signs and symptoms of the disease, experts said.

They said the situation causes physical and mental health issues for hundreds of thousands of women of child-bearing age. They said it’s a genetic condition that aggravates due to sedentary lifestyle.

“Due to lack of knowledge and information, most of the women with PCOS don’t get treatment and have to face physical and mental health issues,” eminent gynaecologist and Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Pakistan (SOGP) Secretary General Dr Tazeen Abbas told a news conference at the Karachi Press Club (KPC).

Accompanied by Rahat Qureshi from Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH), Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) president Dr Sonia Naqvi and head of gynaecology department of the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital (ASH) Dr Rubina Ishaque, Dr Abbas said it was difficult to know exactly how many women have PCOS in Pakistan as no accurate data was available.

“But by looking at the visits of women at clinics, it’s thought to be very common, affecting a lot more than 15 per cent. More than half of these women do not have any symptoms,” she added.

Prof Dr Rahat Qureshi said PCOS is a genetic disease and require hormonal treatment, but added that lack of physical activity, sedentary lifestyle and consumption of junk food aggravates severity of this disease among women.

“If girls take part in physical activities and take healthy and balanced diet, they can delay the onset of this disease while those who develop it, at least 10pc of them can get rid of it by adopting healthy lifestyle,” she added.

Prof Rubina Ishaq was of the opinion that due to lack of awareness, many women don’t consult healthcare providers and instead consult quacks which further deteriorate their condition, and added that by consulting qualified healthcare providers, married women can even conceive and have babies despite having PCOS.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2022