Dr. Oz, You Say?

Apparently, Dr. Oz, the Oprah-approved physician, has discussed PCOS on the Oprah show recently. (And this on the heels of a major announcement by the National Vulvodynia Association that Oprah would have a show--which then turned into just a segment--about vulvodynia.)

I'm glad that he's talking about it and all, don't get me wrong. It's just so glossed over that I doubt it really made an impact. Here's a description of it:

Another audience member said that she has facial hair on her chin and it really bothers her. She shaves her chin. If you don’t have regular periods and have a hard time losing weight she might have Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome. PCOS can also cause infertility, and can pre-dispose the person to diabetes. They tend to have more heart attacks. She didn’t have all the symptoms of PCOS. There are treatments that can help to reverse PCOS and treat the condition. Dr. Oz said that you can shave and it won’t make it come in more. Dr. Oz said that you can take pills to regulate testosterone hormone levels. Birth control pills can be helpful sometimes he said. There are other medications that can help to control the hormones as well he continued to explain. He said that you shouldn’t ignore it. Dr. Oz said that there is a laser treatment that can get rid of the hairs permanently. Dr. Oz said that he doesn’t like plucking as much as the shaving. Plucking can cause little pimples. He said you can also use a waxing technique for facial hair removal.

Ugh. It saddens me that the main discussion is about hair removal. While that is an important symptom to recognize in PCOS women, it's not the most crucial element. So now one or both of two things will happen: (1) all women with excess facial hair will think they have PCOS, or (2) women with thinning hair or a lack of facial hair that can be so problematic with PCOS will neglect other PCOS symptoms.

Oprah, please do a full show on PCOS. I think the time has come.