PCOS Magazine

I’ve been amazed as-of late at the sheer amount of attention PCOS is receiving on Facebook…and the number of fans of PCOS Magazine. I want to say thank you SO much for your continued interest.

As this magazine is a personal passion, fed by the wonderful writing and perspectives of some absolutely FABULOUS contributing writers (Angela Grassi, Holly Amarandei, Suzy Reyes, Sasha Ottey, and more)…well, let me just say this, it takes a lot of work to produce. I’m not complaining one bit. That’s the thing about it being a passion.

This said, life has thrown a couple of curveballs lately and it’s made it hard to concentrate on the magazine. I’m a little late getting the latest issue out to everyone, and I want to apologize for that. The upcoming issue will be out soon, most likely before May 1, and I promise to you that it will provide a great deal of great information!

PCOS Magazine is a group effort, essentially. We are always looking for new writing talent/voices, people who have design or ad sales experience, and more. If you have a talent, the readers of PCOS Magazine will probably benefit from it. Please let us know how you would like to get involved.

Dr. Andrea Dunaif leads Endocrinology, and more importantly, the PCOS Study at Northwestern University. The PCOS Study is looking for more participants (see the ad to the right). More information about Dr. Dunaif’s various ongoing studies is detailed below.

PCOS Research at Northwestern

If you are interested in participating, please contact us:

Phone: 800-847-6060

Email: pcos@northwestern.edu

Website: www.pcos.northwestern.edu

Northwestern University is currently recruiting women, men, and girls from the ages of 8-12 for our research on PCOS.  We are also recruiting pregnant women and women with children under 5.  The purpose of these studies is to better understand the cause of PCOS and the problems associated with it.  Since PCOS runs in families, we are also trying to better understand how PCOS affects family members, and to determine if there is a way to predict if a girl will get PCOS later in life.

• Women (18 to 55 years old)
• Men (18 to 55 years old)
• Girls (8 to 12 years old)
• Pregnant Women and Women with Children 0-5 years old

Studies for Women:

Study #1: Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) (NMH eIRB #8096)

• We are recruiting women of any age with a diagnosis of PCOS or pre-menopausal women who have symptoms of PCOS.
• Women with a diagnosis of PCOS may participate even if you are taking medicine or birth control pills.
• This study involves a single blood draw, which may be done at a lab close to you.
• Compensation: If you have a previous diagnosis of PCOS, you may be compensated $25 for the single blood draw.

Study #2: SCOR: Androgens, Genotype and Insulin resistance in PCOS (NMH eIRB #13763)

• We are recruiting overweight women 18-40 years old, with regular periods or irregular periods or PCOS who are generally in good health and are not taking birth control pills.
• Even if you are taking birth control pills there may be a way to include you in this study, so please contact us if you are interested in participating.
• The study requires between 1 and 10 visits over the course of 1 to 12 months depending on your schedule and interest in participating.
• The study involves blood testing, an MRI and a DEXA scan.
• If you choose to participate in the second part of the study you may be asked to take FDA-approved medications for study purposes.
• Compensation: up to $5200

Study #3: Metabolic Syndrome in PCOS: Precursors and Interventions (NMH eIRB #8004)

• We are recruiting women with PCOS (or who have irregular periods) between the ages of 18 and 35 who are generally in good health and are not taking birth control pills.
• Even if you are taking birth control pills there may be a way to include you in this study, so please contact us if you are interested in participating.
• The study requires 7 visits over the course of 6 months.
• Participants in this study will be on one of three different FDA-approved medications to help treat PCOS.
• Participants will receive a personalized, dietician supervised weight loss program at no charge as part of the study.
• The study involves blood testing, an MRI and a DEXA scan.
• Compensation: $725

Study #4: Neural Network Dysfunction in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (NMH eIRB #12400)

• We are recruiting normal weight and overweight women who have regular periods and overweight women with PCOS (or who have irregular periods) who are in generally good health and are not taking birth control pills.
• Even if you are taking birth control pills there may be a way to include you in this study, so please contact us if you are interested in participating.
• The study requires between 1 and 3 visits over the course of 3 weeks depending on your interest in participating.
• Each visit involves a single blood draw and MRI.
• If you choose to participate in the second part of the study you will be asked to take FDA-approved medications for study purposes for one to three weeks.
• Compensation: up to $900

Studies for Men:

Study #1: SCOR: Androgens, Genotype and Insulin resistance in PCOS (NMH eIRB #13763)

• We are recruiting men who are brothers of women with PCOS, and men whose sisters do not have PCOS.  All participants will be in generally good health.
• The study requires 2 or 3 visits within a 2 week period.
• The study involves 2 blood tests and an MRI scan.
• Compensation: $800

Studies for Girls:

Study #1: Metabolic Syndrome in PCOS: Precursors and Interventions (NMH eIRB #8007, CMH IRB #2005-12695)

• We are recruiting 8-12 year old overweight girls who have not yet had their first period.  Girls may be daughters or sisters of women with PCOS (or who have irregular periods), or may have no relative with PCOS.
• The study requires 1 or 2 visits within a week period depending on your interest in participating.
• The study involves a blood test, and may also include another blood test and an MRI depending on your interest in participating.
• Compensation: up to $225

Studies for Pregnant Women and Women with Children 0-5 years old:

Study #1: PCOS Registry – Child (NMH eIRB #8006, CMH IRB #2006-12785)

• We are recruiting women with and without PCOS who have children between 0-5 years old.
• The study is non-invasive, and would require you to send wet diapers and growth charts to us.
• Compensation: $50 per set of diapers and growth chart

Tomorrow night, Wednesday, Dec. 16, PCOS Magazine Editor/Publisher Linda Harvey

will be interviewed by Sasha Ottey of PCOS Challenge.

Here’s the announcement! Please call in and ask a question!

PCOS Magazine invites its readers to visit the new FREE-TO-READ version of the entire magazine. Using the great online-magazine technology created by Issuu, PCOS Magazine readers can find the latest issues in a number of different locales: The PCOS Magazine blog; the PCOS Magazine homepage; or at Issuu! While you’re there, subscribe! You’ll be the first to know anytime a new issue is posted!

About a month ago, I was approached by the fine folks at Fairhaven Health to take a look at their products. The interesting thing is that they focus on fertility. For me personally, that’s not a huge need. HOWEVER, for many women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, issues of fertility and conception are a huge part of their lives. So I decided to give Fairhaven the benefit of the doubt and take a look at their products and let you know what I thought.

Fairhaven Health specializes in natural fertility, pregnancy and nursing products. They offer a combination of both OTC pharmaceutical supplements and non-pharmaceutical fertility and conception aids for women. They feature a number of reviews on their site from women whose doctors suggested the use of their products during the pre-natal periods.

For the sake of my review, I asked to see products of the non-pharmaceutical sort.

Pregnancy Wheel and Ovulation Calendar

For those of you women who like to take a natural approach to conception, they’ve got some really great products to choose from. For instance, I’m a rather analytical type. I like to be able to know exactly when something’s happening, or at least to be able to predict it. For those of us with PCOS, also knowing when ovulation *could* occur is a good thing. Fairhaven has produced a Pregnancy Wheel and Ovulation Calendar that spoke right to my analytical side. It allows you to adjust the wheel to your cycle length, to pinpoint when you are menstruating, when you might ovulate, and then helps you track the different phases of pregnancy. In taking a good, strong look at this wheel, I noticed it also pointed out when amniocentesis, ultrasounds, and glucose screens should be done during the pregnancy cycle. Hey, Fairhaven, can you produce one of these for my LIFE? On the back of the wheel are numerous preconception calendar tips. A great little resource!

Next up, what especially caught my interest was their yoga DVD. I used to be an intermediate yoga practitioner; it’s something that I want (and SHOULD) get back into, so anything that deals with yoga catches my interest. Their yoga DVD is entitled “Bend, Breathe, and Conceive: Fertility Yoga,” and it was produced with Anna Davis, Ph.D., RYT. Its focus is on what’s called gentle flow yoga, with guided meditation, for all levels of yoga practitioners. As a yoga practitioner, I knew about how yoga helps release toxins from the body (this is why I used to always take a big bottle of water to every yoga session I went to…so immediately following I could gulp  like it was going out of style. If I didn’t, I’d feel horrible until this stuff was flushed out). On the back of the DVD are a few great little

Bend, Breathe and Conceive DVD

kernels of information about the connections between stress and fertility. They’re a little hard to read due to the background color, but good information. The one that caught my eye, and even made me think about how stress affects my body, was “learn how daily anxieties and ‘fertility frustration’ can trigger the release of stress hormones that disrupt the health functioning of the reproductive system.” QUICK — where’s my yoga mat?

I also took a sniff (yes, a sniff) at their Fertile Flame Fertility Candle. While I’m not typically one to get really excited about aromatherapy, I have been known

Fertile Flame Fertility Candle

to seek the benefits of anything peppermint to perk me up, apples and cinnamon during the colder months to soothe me, so on and so forth. Fairhaven’s Fertile Flame is said to combine fertility-enhancing scents with the ritual of lighting candles to improve emotional and mental well-being. As frazzled as we can become from our crazy lives, something that helps you center is always welcome. The candle is a combination of three scents — chamomile, jasmine, and ylang ylang. It’s potent, but soothing, made of soy wax, in its own container. Don’t be concerned if your candle arrives and there are a few small chips of wax on the top of it. This will happen in transport. You haven’t lost much.

Fairhaven Health has a plethora of natural products that I’d be willing to try if I were in the process of trying to conceive. The company, its website, everything about it, isn’t pushy, but offers you the fullest opportunity to be present and an active part of the conception process. Their combination of both non-pharmaceutical conception aids (like specially made basal thermometers) and pregnancy and post-pregnancy items (like Dreambelly Stretch Mark Cream, Pregnancy Deoderant, and Nursing Time Tea) as well as their supplements (like Pregnancy Plus Omega-3) is refreshing. I invite you to take a look. Most of their prices seem fairly reasonable, they offer a supplement ingredient list under the “Physicians” tab of their website, and provide information about the medical advisors that work with the company in the production of their products. Nothing about this company sent up any red flags for me. They’ve put it all out there to prove to their current and potential customers that they’re here to meet your needs.