Advances In Research On Chinese And Western Medicine For Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a common endocrine and metabolic disorders in women of reproductive age. The principal features are Hyperandrogenemia, anovulation, and polycystic ovaries by gynelologic ultrasound.Epidemical investigations revealed that the incidence of PCOS in general population is5%to10%, whereas30%to60%of anovulation infertility cases. The etiology of PCOS is yet uncertain. There are evidences that PCOS might be related with many factors such as genetic, environmental, endocrine, metabolic, immunologic, and inflammations. Therefore PCOS is a complex and heterogeneous disorder, ovary dysfunction are the basic pathology. Symptoms typically begin during puberty and worsen with time. Anovulation. infertility, mild obesity, hirsutism could be found on women in reproductive age. Due to long term metabolic disorders, PCOS could lead to diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other complications to older patients. The diagnosis standards of PCOS are constantly being discussed by the experts worldwide, American National Institute of Health (NIH) standards, Rotterdam consensus by the European Society for Human Reproduction and the American Society of Reproductive Medicine (ESHRE/ASRM) and American Androgen Excess Society (AES) standards are the most common used in PCOS diagnostic criteria. In2011China has already propose PCOS diagnostic standards for Chinese people. Treatments for PCOS are based on patient's age, the severity of the symptoms, and the intended treatment purpose. Healthy lifestyle and diet must be promoted especially for patients with obesity. Managing hyperandrogenemia and insulin resistence, preventing endometrial hyperplasia and cancer, preventing long term complications are the main treatment for patients with no fertility desire. Fertility treatments are added for patients who desire pregnancy.There were no disease called PCOS in TCM classic literatures, based on its clinical onset, it could be classified as delayed menstruation, amenorrhea. infertility, metrorrhagia and metrostaxis, abdominal mass. Modern TCM literatures on PCOS studies could be traced from1980s. According to recent TCM physicians, etiologies of PCOS are complicated, but commonly accepted theory as follows, Kidney definciency are the main pathology, involving the Spleen and Liver, producing pleghm and blood stasis. Syndrome differentiation standard aren't yet to be fixed, PCOS mainly are differentiated as Kidney deficiency and Blood stasis, Kidney deficiency and Pleghm-dampness, Depressed heat in liver meridian, Kidney deficiency and Liver depression, Kidney and Spleen deficiency. Treatment method varies with each physician, but the basic principal is to tonifying kidney, fortifying spleen, soothing liver, resolving pleghm, and resolving stasis. Furthermore, integrated methods of both TCM and western methods were commonly used in PCOS treatment in China.This thesis is a retrospective review on Chinese and foreign journals on PCOS study. Summarizing every aspects of PCOS:etiology, pathology, relating factors, clinical manifestation, complications, diagnostic and treatment. The main focus is to summarize the disease and its complex syndrome based on TCM point of view: the cause, the mechanism and the syndrome differentiation and treatment. Pointing underlying problems in current studies, in hope to provide some prospective for further studies on PCOS.