New PCOS Forum Debuts
In answer to a recent rash of PCOS forums closing, The Cyster Connection has established itself on the PCOS social networking scene. Created by two friends, The Cyster Connection has incorporated the now-extinct Cyster Sales forum, and includes a bundle of new topics — faith, debates, “the problem with PCOS,” mental health, you name it!
From its creators: “A friend and I started the forum because, over the past few months, quite a few PCOS message boards have closed. There has been a lot of controversy lately about message boards having “private” threads where only the elite, the admin, post. And on a couple of those boards, the admin and mods were posting about, talking about, making fun of, their members. We wanted something with NO private threads, not even an admin thread. Everything out in the open. We feel that women with PCOS need as much support, advice, laughs that they can get!! We have threads for home, cooking, lots of PCOS stuff, relationships, games, quizzes, questions of the day, getting to know you….and we just added a portion of the board from a now extinct forum, called “Cyster Sales”. Cyster sales allows cysters to buy, barter, trade their items. They can also post their eBay listings. That portion of the board is going slow. The original Cyster Sales was around for about 3 years with over 500 members, so we’re hoping to get that up and running again.”
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Clinical Textbook for PCOS
Anshan Publishers of Kent, United Kingdom, debuted “Polycystic Ovary Syndrome,” a new clinical textbook edited by Gautam Allahbadia, M.D. As PCOS becomes recognized as a major cause of infertility, textbooks like the one edited by Dr. Allahbadia are focused on educating obstetrics and gynecology students by providing what the publishers call “an accessible comprehensive overview of the subject.”
“There are many textbooks on PCOS, but this one goes deeper into the subspeciality,” Dr. Allahbadia said in an e-mail interview. “We have discussed clinical approaches to all problematic areas, including insulin resistance, hyperandrogenemia, dyslipidemia, cardiovascualar disease, as well as surgical treatment. There is no other textbook on the subject that discussed all these aspects threadbare.”
Throughout the textbook are contributed works on pregnancy and PCOS, insulin-sensitizing drugs, long-term consequences and lifestyle modifications, as well as a chapter on genetics of PCOS.
According to Alison Dry, marketing specialist for Anshan, the textbook presents contributors from around the world, including Australia, Belgium, Chile, Egypt, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, and the United States.
Professor Roy Homburg wrote the forward to the book. Homburg is a well-known researcher in the field of PCOS. “Today, he is recognized as the authority on medical management of PCOS in The Netherlands as well as Israel,” Dr. Allahbadia said.
Dr. Allahbadia also said he believes PCOS should be renamed with a focus on metabolic disorder. He also believes the current diagnostic criteria for PCOS is well-defined, but is not collectively used by all doctors. “There is no unanimity amongst treating doctors,” Dr. Allahbadia said. “Hopefully our textbook, if well-distributed and picked up by doctors globally, will help in standardizing diagnostic and management criteria.”
Dr. Allahbadia is consultant fertility physician at the Dr. L.H. Hiranandani Center for Human Reproduction and Recurrent Miscarriage Clinic, Dr. L.H. Hiranandani Hospital, Powai, Mumbai, India. He is also the scientific director of The Prince Aly Khan Hospital IVF Center and the Aesculap Academy-Asia, the Pacific Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery, Training and Research, Mazgaon, Mumbai, India. He serves as the medical director at Rotunda-The Center for Human Reproduction, Bandra, Mumbai, India.