PCOS Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome

A Functional Medicine Perspective on PCOS:
Identify And Eliminate Root Causes Of PCOS With Integrative And Functional Medicine Expertise

What Is PCOS?

PCOS is a condition that includes one or more of a group of symptoms including ovarian cyst(s), hormone imbalance such as elevated testosterone or DHEA, acne, hirsutism or hair growth, irregular periods, metabolic disturbances like weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood sugar, and infertility in some.

How Is PCOS Conventionally Treated?

PCOS is conventionally treated with synthetic oral contraceptives that do nothing to address the root causes of the problems and have an impressive serious side effect profile including cancer, blood clots that can lead to death, and autoimmune disease.  At best oral contraceptives block your natural hormone production and replace them with synthetic hormones that do not have the same effects as your own natural hormones and actually have numerous negative and very serious side effects. In fact oral contraceptives worsen aspects of health such as gut microbial balance, toxicity, that worsen the root causes of PCOS.

Even if temporarily periods seem to be regular when taking oral contraceptives its important to know that first bleeding caused or stopped by oral contraceptive synthetic hormones is not a healthy natural period the sign that your body’s hormones are healthy and imbalance.

It is bleeding cause by synthetic hormones that are blocking your natural ovarian hormone production. All that has happened is whatever hormones your ovaries were producing have been blocked and replaced with synthetic hormone that does not have the same beneficial effects as your body’s natural hormones and comes with side effect profile that includes blood clots, cancer, and increases candida, lowers thyroid and natural testosterone levels and increases inflammatory markers while also increasing the risk of new onset autoimmunity, these just a few side effects of synthetic hormones in oral contraceptive.

Dr Rashel Tahzib At Advance Health Integrative And Functional Medicine Diagnoses And Treats The Root Causes Of PCOS and Treats Them Holistically

There is a better way to address imbalances in your body through functional medicine, without putting you at greater risk of drug side effects and masking root causes of your health problem allowing the root causes to worsen as conventionally practiced.


Dr Rashel Tahzib at advance Health Integrative and Functional Medicine works together with you to identify and address the actual root causes of PCOS symptoms. The root causes of PCOS are insulin resistance, environmental toxicity that can be complicated by nutrient deficiency and certain genetic predispositions, gut microbial imbalance, and toxic body burden.

Dr Rashel commonly sees young women with a diagnosis of PCOS who have seen numerous physicians, including endocrinologists, hormone specialists, and even contemporary practitioners. Unfortunately they have not had the proper evaluation to address the root causes and eliminate their negative symptoms by restoring a state of health and balance in their body.
Most have had prescriptions of synthetic oral contraceptives, drugs like metformin, and different weight loss drugs, all of which come with a huge and c concerning side effect profile whose benefits do not outweigh their risks and this has never been discussed with them.

Dr Rashel will work together with you and weed through your symptoms, helping to clearly identify what symptoms are caused by what problems, and even what symptoms you are feeling are actually caused by description medications that you though would help but are actually further spiraling your body out of balance.

What Causes PCOS?

PCOS is caused by disturbances in your metabolism causing Insulin Resistance through a likely genetic predisposition. But we can be genetically predisposed to something however through modern day research we know that genes and predispositions do not necessarily get triggered or turned on without environmental signals.

This means that you may be genetically predisposed but the predisposition only gets triggered if environmental circumstances trigger it.  Insulin resistance can cause PCOS, because ongoing high insulin levels circulating in the blood stream can cause increase in androgen hormones like testosterone from the ovaries and other hormone imbalance which can lead to ovarian cysts and other symptoms seen in PCOS.  To successfully address PCOS we must also investigate and treat the causes of PCOS.

Root Causes Of PCOS

Hormone imbalance is the main cause of PCOS. Hormone imbalance results from from endocrine disruption, disruption in your body's hormone signaling pathways and production.

Environmental Toxins are one of the main factors that disrupt the delicate secretion, communication, and balance of hormones.  Toxins are one of the main underlying causes of disease. Toxins are endocrine disruptors, causing hormone imbalance including insulin resistance. Unfortunately today toxins are rampant in the environment and this is compounded by confusion around what is a healthy diet, leading people to turn to foods that they think may be healthy but are actually toxic.

Toxins that can lead to insulin resistance and PCOS symptoms can include heavy metals such as lead, arsenic, mercury, thallium, aluminum, environmental pollutants like PBA’s, Parabens, persistent organic pollutants, and processed and genetically modified foods.  The right functional medicine testing can identify your body toxic burden and based on your results together with your unique clinical history and genetics customize personalized targeted integrative treatments that will sport your body’s natural detoxification pathways while using treatments to detoxify the toxins along with prescribed therapeutic lifestyle modification.

Alteration In Healthy Gut Bacteria And Abnormal Changes In Gut Microbiome

Another underlying cause of PCOS can be alterations in gut health and microbial balance and changes in short chain fatty acids which are secreted but gut microbes.  Correctly identifying imbalances in gut microbial health and restoring balance is an important part of treating PCOS root causes and restoring hormone health and balance to your body.

Thyroid Disorders And Hypothyroidism

Thyroid disorders including hypothyroidism Optimizing thyroid health and correctly identifying thyroid hormone deficiency is another important part of addressing hormone imbalance and root causes of PCOS.  Conventional medicine and conventional labs do not correctly identify thyroid hormone deficiency and can miss many people who suffer from thyroid deficiency. 

Dr Rashel uses advanced diagnostic testing that includes more thorough thyroid tests along with clinical expertise and lab ranges that better identify hypothyroidism to identify and address those suffering from thyroid hormone deficiency.  Treating thyroid hormone deficiency and thyroid deficiency symptoms that are frequently missed and under diagnosed conventionally is a necessary part of successfully treating root causes of PCOS.

Imbalances Between Estrogen, Progesterone, Estrogen Dominance, progesterone Deficiency

Imbalances between estrogen and progesterone can also result in ovarian cysts and can both mimic PCOS symptoms and contribute to PCOS and PCOS patients often have low progesterone.  Correctly identifying hormone imbalance and optimizing estrogen and progesterone balance and levels can help alleviate symptoms of PCOS and help restore menstrual regularity.

As with any diagnosis or group of symptoms the body cries out with it is ultimately important to  identify the root causes not just mask symptoms. The we address the body holistically and investigate and treat the root causes of the symptoms with Integrative care we are very often successful in eliminating the symptoms and restoring a state of optimal health and balance in the body.

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