1. After digesting a meal, the elevated blood glucose provides a signal to the pancreas to produce insulin.

 

2. Insulin is secreted by the pancreas into the bloodstream and circulates around the body until it finds a cell with a receptor to which it binds.

 

3&4. The insulin receptor becomes incompletely activated – effectively muffling the normal signal strength – represented by the thinner hashed lines in the diagram. This leads to a sub-optimal intracellular response, so less glucose is absorbed and/or converted to long term energy stores.

 

5&6. Much of the circulating glucose remains in the bloodstream so the expected shut-off signal to the pancreas is not sent. Glucose levels remain higher for longer, stimulating the pancreas to secrete more insulin into the bloodstream. The rise in insulin production, represented by the thicker lines, takes it to abnormally high levels and it begins to behave differently – as a sort of surrogate sex hormone.

 

7&8. Linkage between the glucose-insulin system and androgen production and regulation now becomes evident. The thecal cells of the ovary are stimulated to produce more androgens and an inhibitory signal to the liver prevents the normal production of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) which is the means by which our bodies keep the system in balance. So there is a double whammy, whereby more androgens than normal are produced and our ability to deal with the excess is compromised.

 

9. This produces a rise in free testosterone which can lead to the typical symptoms commonly associated with PCOS: acne or oily skin, hirsutism, thinning scalp hair and ovary-oriented problems such as absence/infrequent ovulation and development of polycystic ovaries.

 

This disruption in normal glucose-insulin regulation can be corrected at source by Replenitol without side effects and with huge benefits for those who are affected.

 

Corrective action normalises your insulin response
Where PCOS is associated with a metabolic deficiency as outlined above, supplementation with the missing metabolites normalises the glucose-insulin system, reduces insulin levels to the normal range and removes the linkage with androgen production. By replacing the missing metabolites at source the biochemical balance is restored to the normal ranges for insulin, LH:FSH and androgen levels. This translates into considerable clinical benefits for you without any side effects or over-correction.

 

Metabolic Deficiency
We have already discussed how insulin regulates blood sugar in general terms so, here,we are turning to some of the specific molecules that are involved – this is at the very cutting edge of what we know. All of the information is drawn from recent peer-reviewed papers authored by some of the world’s leading experts in the field. Being so new, there are no text books covering the subject to this level yet: this model is built upon expert opinion combining known facts with the compelling proof from the many observational studies. Those studies are either already available in the technical section or will be added shortly. If your doctor is unfamiliar with the latest developments, you may wish to direct her/him to our site too.

 

At the end of 2012, Professors Evanthia Diamanti-Kandarakis and Andrea Dunaif published a very wide-ranging review that took account of almost 600 papers on the subject matter. In their paper, they published a diagram similar to that below which identified the site of the PCOS defect in at least half of those with the syndrome. This encompasses the area around the base of the insulin receptor which is essential for the normal signal transmission from outside to inside the cell. Compensating for the defect by replacing the missing metabolites normalises glucose-insulin regulation and leads to observed clinical benefits.