Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome and Obstructive Sleep Apnea

October 2007 in “ Current Respiratory Medicine Reviews ”

Ashesh Desai, Shyam Subramanian

Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome PCOS Obstructive Sleep Apnea OSA androgens insulin resistance visceral obesity sleep-disordered breathing SDB pharyngeal muscles polysomnography

TLDR Women with PCOS are much more likely to have sleep problems and should be checked for them.

The 2007 document reviews the significant relationship between Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) and Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), indicating that women with PCOS are 30-40 times more likely to have sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) than age and weight-matched controls. It suggests that the high levels of androgens in PCOS may impair pharyngeal muscles, contributing to OSA, and that insulin resistance, a common feature of PCOS, is also linked to OSA independently of obesity. The review emphasizes that visceral obesity, prevalent in PCOS, is a key risk factor for OSA. It concludes with a recommendation for screening all pre-menopausal women with PCOS for SDB, using polysomnography for those at high risk, and calls for more research to explore the impact of OSA on PCOS and whether treating SDB could alleviate PCOS symptoms.

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