Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and a Possible Role of DietResults from a Case Control Study in Kashmiri Women

Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) management with dietary interventions targeting underlying pathogenesis of obesity and insulin resistance has been challenging for decades. Various studies so far have reported that weight loss improves ovulation, testosterone levels and insulin resistance in women but the optimal diet composition has not been evaluated in detail. Hence, the current study was undertaken with the aim to explore the role of diet in management etiology of PCOS Kashmiri women. Materials and Methods: In this case-control observational study, we randomly selected 145 PCOS patients and 145 healthy age and BMI matched controls. Dietary history was taken in detail including intake of macronutrients (fats, protein and carbohydrates) assessed by food frequency questionnaires (FFQ). Anthropometric data including weight, height, waist circumference, hip circumference and blood pressure was recorded. Patients were evaluated in detail for hirsutism, menstrual irregularity, and clinical evidence of insulin resistance. Additionally, blood samples were also collected for evaluation of clinical parameters from all the participants in this study. Results: PCOS patients had higher waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and clinical evidence of hyperandrogenism (Ferriman Gallwey Score ≥8) in comparison of controls. Complete dietary evaluation of both cases and controls revealed that though overall intake of calories was nonsignificantly higher in PCOS case, major difference was in the macronutrient composition. PCOS cases had significantly higher dietary fat intake as compared to controls (90.38 + 8.79 vs 67.98+1.92gm/day; p<0.001). However, carbohydrate and protein intake could not attain any statistically significant difference among two groups. Conclusion: Our results showed that despite similar total calorie intake fat intake is higher among PCOS cases. Thus habitual dietary fat intake increases PCOS risk, whereas proteins and carbohydrates do not have significant effect. However, more studies with increased sample size are needed to better validate the effects of dietary carbohydrates, fats and proteins on PCOS.