I recently wrote a guest post for a truly inspiring woman in the PCOS community : PCOS Diva, Amy Medling. She asked me to write on PCOS and the Adrenals and I was absolutely thrilled with the topic choice because I think it’s so crucial to overall hormonal health in the disorder. It’s really quite fascinating how the adrenals do function quite differently in women with PCOS. Enzymatically, there are differences in the production of male hormones from the adrenal glands. 50% of all of the male hormones in the female body are produced in the adrenals, and as such, in women with PCOS, this can create a significant number of the problematic symptoms. Elevated androgen levels result in acne, male pattern hair growth (hirsutism), male pattern hair loss, and delays in ovulation or late/absent menstrual cycles. Another aspect of interest that I detailed was that women with PCOS produce higher levels of cortisol (the stress hormone produced by the adrenal glands) than women without the disorder. Women with PCOS are also much more likely to suffer with anxiety or depression, and I’m sure that the cortisol connection plays a role in this.