WEDNESDAY, Oct. 20, 2004 (HealthDayNews) -- Insulin-sensitizing drugs help both thin and heavy women with polycystic ovary syndrome, says a Virginia Commonwealth University study in the October issue of Fertility and Sterility.
"This is significant because up to 30 percent of women with polycystic ovary syndrome are not overweight, and it has not been clear if such women would benefit from treatment with an insulin-sensitizing drug for improving fertility," lead author Dr. John E. Nestler, chairman of the division of endocrinology and metabolism, said in a prepared statement.
"We now know these women are good candidates for an insulin-sensitizing drug to increase the frequency of ovulation," Nestler said.
He was one of the first scientists to identify insulin as an important reproductive hormone more than two decades ago.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which affects between 6 percent and 10 percent of women of childbearing age, is the most common reproductive syndrome in women. Those with PCOS have enlarged ovaries with cysts and have irregular or no ovulation.
In this study, 100 non-obese women with PCOS were given either one of two insulin-sensitizing drugs (metformin or rosiglitazone), a combination of the two drugs, or a placebo twice a day.
Ovulation frequency was six to eight times greater among women who took the drugs compared with those who took the placebo. The frequency of ovulation increased much more among women who used metformin than among those who used rosiglitzone. The combination of the two drugs was even more effective, the study found.
More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about polycystic ovary syndrome.
