What is PCOS

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is the most common cause  of female infertility related to the absence of ovulation (called anovulatory infertility—see Ovulation 101 for details).  In fact, most women don’t find out that they have PCOS until they try to get pregnant, but are not successful.  However, research shows that many of the features and some of the symptoms of PCOS are present before a girl has her first menstrual period—and that the impact of PCOS goes beyond infertility.  The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, has supported research on the possible causes and treatments for PCOS for several decades.  In 1990, the NICHD sponsored a meeting of experts to define the first set of features for diagnosing PCOS.2  The NICHD is continuing its efforts to learn more about this far-reaching condition  and its many effects.

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