A common antimalarial drug could also be used to treat polycystic ovarian syndrome, an endocrine disorder that affects hundreds of millions of people of reproductive age worldwide.
After receiving repeated doses of artemisinin, a small group of women with PCOS had lower blood testosterone levels and healthier-looking ovaries, researchers report in the June 14 Science. The results suggest artemisinin compounds, which are already known to be effective against malaria, lupus and cancer, could also be used to alleviate symptoms of PCOS.
The discovery could “potentially change the landscape of PCOS treatment,” Elisabet Stener-Victorin, an endocrinologist at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm who was not involved in the research, writes in a perspective in the same issue of Science. “Although further studies will be needed … the discovery of artemisinins as effective remedies for PCOS nonetheless represents a promising new approach.”
Despite the prevalence of PCOS, what causes the disorder is not known. Doctors diagnose it based on elevated levels of hormones called androgens, which includes testosterone, and a plethora of small cysts on patients’ ovaries. Treatments tend to target specific symptoms, such as acne, excess hair growth, irregular menstruation or infertility. People with PCOS are also at higher risk of metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, and researchers now think that underlying changes to the systems controlling our metabolism, like the one involving insulin, are to blame for both.
#womenshealth #femtech #healthtech #digitalhealth #healthcare #healthcareinnovation #startups #innovation #health #medtech #healthcareresearch #femalehealth #genderhealthgap #reproductivehealth #venturecapital #vc #funding #investment #grants #maternalhealth #periods #menstruation #sexualhealth #sextech #menopause #fertility #pregnancy #postpartum #eggfreezing #IVF #healthequity #pelvicfloor #pelvicfloorhealth #hormonehealth
