Dr. Esteban Kosak 
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a disease in which the male and female hormones balance is lost, resulting in higher male hormone production in women. It affects approximately 8% of women in the US and prompts several other problems, such as infertility, diabetes, obesity, and more.
Women typically have their own type of hormones, including estrogen and progesterone. Still, women also produce, although in smaller quantities, testosterone, the main male hormone.
Women’s hormones are produced in two places, the ovaries, and the adrenal glands. The former ones are alongside the uterus and play an essential role every month in producing an egg for a possible pregnancy. On the other hand, the latter are each on top of both kidneys and project in the lower back.
In PCOS, there are hormonal abnormalities. There is a loss in the male hormone control, resulting in its higher production. Higher levels of male hormones in women do not have desirable effects as in men. In women, this abnormality could result in hair growth in places typical for men (i.e., the chin or around the nipples), acne, or losing hair in the head like men.
Moreover, patients with PCOS have menstrual abnormalities, infertility, obesity, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and sleep apnea. All of them do not necessarily have to present together. In fact, some patients with PCOS may not even have higher testosterone levels or polycystic ovaries.
Nowadays, there are several PCOS definitions, although its name comprises multiple cysts in at least an ovary. Polycystic ovaries is a diagnosis doctors use when they find 20 or more cysts (sac-like element filled with liquid) in at least an ovary. Nevertheless, PCOS’s actual diagnosis requires doctors to fulfill a criterion beyond just many cysts in an ovary.
Most of the criteria for PCOS require two out of three elements. And in all of them, doctors should discard any possible and severer cause for the patient’s symptoms (i.e., Tumors or Cushing Syndrome). Then, specific symptoms suggest the disease or evidence in tests of higher male hormones in the blood, etc.
The tool is a PCOS Symptoms Checker. It gathers the most important signs, symptoms, and risk factors for the condition.
Doctors rely on several diagnostic criteria for PCOS. They must perform a total body examination, blood, and imaging tests in order to confirm the diagnosis. Besides, doctors should discard underlying diseases that may cause similar symptoms to the ones of PCOS. Therefore, just having symptoms of PCOS does not mean that somebody has the disease.
However, the tool here has questions that aim to identify the most important signs, symptoms, and PCOS risk factors. Consequently, the tool will tell anybody who uses it the likelihood of their symptoms because of this disease.
Diagnosing PCOS is the first step for beginning its treatment. Keep in mind that having PCOS could cause complications in the long-term, including endometrial cancer. And treatment is necessary for preventing such complications. Using the tool is free and would only take a few minutes.
- Question of
Do you are a female between 14 and 44 years old?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you have your first menstruation in the last six years?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have been diagnosed with diabetes or insulin resistance? Or, do you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Does anyone in your family has been diagnosed with diabetes or metabolic syndrome?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have obesity? (please search in google the “BMI formula,” and with your weight and height, it will calculate that diagnosis)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have a waist circumference greater than 35 inches?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have menstrual bleeding in intervals of 35 days to six months?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Did you get less than nine menstruations in the last twelve months?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have heavy menstrual bleeding, bleeding that persists more than seven days, bleeding between periods, or bleeding that contains many or large clots? (If your answer is yes to any of these asseverations, click yes)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have these menstrual problems of bleeding and irregularity since you got your first one?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have excessive hair growth in places like the upper lip, chin, around the nipples, or in the middle of the abdomen?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have acne (whiteheads, blackheads, red skin rash, or pimples) in your face, trunk, or back? Or, do you are losing hair on your head?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you are currently trying to get pregnant, and you haven’t achieved it?
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you feel tired all the time? Or, do you feel sleepy throughout the daytime? Or, do you think that you don’t fully rest after sleeping? (If you answer is yes to any of those three questions, click yes)
- Yes
- No
- Question of
Do you have dark patches at the nape of the neck, axillae, area beneath the breasts, groin, elbows, or knuckles?
- Yes
- No
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