arcadia

I thought that women who have irregular/absent periods are considered to have PCOS regardless of having any other of the symptoms. But how come women who only have excessive hair growth or hair loss are considered to have PCOS?

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joyblack

There are a number of symptoms which may be indicative of possible PCOS, but we're talking about a syndrome the individual symptoms of which may be caused by other things, so you would expect several to be present before a diagnosis of PCOS would be made if it were being made on the basis of external symptoms only.

There are many possible causes for irregular/absent periods. PCOS is only one potential cause. There are women with irregular or absent periods who do NOT have PCOS.

Likewise many women who have male-type hair growth patterns do not have PCOS.

However if a woman has irregular or absent periods AND male-type beard growth AND male-pattern balding, then most certainly PCOS might be suspected as one of the more likely causes.