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PCOS May Lead to Memory, Decision-Making Problems Later on
TOPLINE:
People with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) may score lower on cognitive tests than people without the condition, a research showed. They also may have worse integrity of brain tissue as evident on an MRI.
METHODOLOGY:
- Researchers used data from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults Women's Study; individuals were 18-30 years old at the beginning of the study and were followed over 30 years.
- A little over 900 women were included in the study, of which 66 had PCOS, which was defined as having elevated androgen levels or self-reported hirsutism and irregular menstrual cycles more than 32 days apart.
- Study participants completed tests measuring verbal learning and memory, processing speed and executive function, attention and cognitive control, and semantics and attention.
- Researchers analyzed brain white matter integrity for 291 of the individuals, including 25 with PCOS, who underwent MRI.
TAKEAWAY:
- Individuals with PCOS had worse memory, attention, and verbal ability scores than those without the disorder.
- MRI scans showed that those with PCOS had lower white matter integrity, an indicator of cognitive deficits, including poorer decision-making abilities.
- Those in the PCOS group were more likely to be White and have diabetes than those in the control group.
IN PRACTICE:
"This report of midlife cognition in PCOS raises a new concern about another potential comorbidity for individuals with this common disorder; given that up to 10% of women may be affected by PCOS, these results have important implications for public health at large," the authors concluded.
SOURCE:
Heather G. Huddleston, MD, director of the PCOS Clinic at the UCSF Health, San Francisco, California, is the lead author of the study published in Neurology on January 31, 2024.
LIMITATIONS:
PCOS was determined on the basis of serum androgen levels and self-reporting of hirsutism and oligomenorrhea, so some cases may have been misclassified without the official diagnosis of a clinician.
DISCLOSURES:
The authors did not report any relevant financial conflicts. The study was funded by a grant from the University of California, San Francisco, California.
