October 2003

Nutritional therapy gives hope to women with PCOS

Results of a new pilot study funded by the National Institutes of Health showed that daily supplementation with 1,000 mcg of chromium as chromium picolinate significantly enhanced insulin sensitivity. These initial results offer a potential new nutritional therapy for approximately 2 million American women suffering from policystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

PCOS is a little understood hormonal condition that is a leading cause of infertility and is associated with insulin resistance, gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes. The study was presented at the 59th annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine Conference (ASRM) in San Antonio.

Researchers at the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook, analyzed the effects of nutritional supplementation with chromium in the form of chromium picolinate on six women with PCOS. Results showed that glucose disposal rate (insulin sensitivity) was significantly increased by an average of 35 percent after two months of treatment and baseline insulin levels decreased by 22 percent.

“Chromium picolinate, which has positive effects on insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes, looks like it has great potential as a safe, effective long-term therapy to fill a void in treating PCOS,” said Michael L. Lydic, MD, assistant professor at SUNY Reproductive Endocrinology Division, who led the study.

Source: Business Wire

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