LOCAH is late onset congenital andrenal hyperplasia. This causes hyperandrogenism and also PCOS. LOCAH is the cause of up to 5% of PCOS and is important to diagnose as soon as possible.
You can read more about Locah and there is now a forum for LOCAH women.
Information is currently being laid about locah and the site is under construction, but the forum is up and running and we welcome users who can both give support at the same time as learning more about their condition.
where exactly can I find out more about LOCAH? I looked at webmd...nothing there. I tried doing searches, etc. Nothing. The FAQ at your link is not up yet, so I had nowhere to satiate my curiosity.
__________________ "Don't eat less, just more intelligently..."
Free of soy, sugar, high-fructose corn syrup and and trans fats since March 2002...now regular periods, free of cysts, testosterone normalized, more than 70 lbs lost, ovulation and fertility restored, cholesterol total only 145... ...and now child #2 born 6/7/04 8 lbs 5 oz.Holy cow--a GIRL this time!!!
__________________ Age 35, dh 30, married 8 years, one son 5 years old
DX pcos Jan 2001
DX ibs Dec 1999
Dx LOCAH Sept 2001
Hidradentis Suppurativa
(lumps)
Cervical Ectropion
Raised blood pressure
High Cholesterol
Loads of meds - too many to mention!!
"She is buffeted by the waves but she does not sink"
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I just put my site up. I have a son with CAH and I do a great deal of research. So basically the LOCAH board is an extension of that. If you want any accruate information about CAH or LOCAH, the Pub Med site is the best place to get it. I found one particular board to be completely biased in the way it educates the folks using it.
The point of running such boards I always thought was to have as much diversity as possible so that we all learn what others are doing and respect that no two peoples treatment will be the same. That and help eachother out by educating other's about their treatment and how to make sure they get optimal treatment and what is legitimate treatment. etc etc.
The last link provided is where I was treated quite badly. I am just trying to help folks who seem to be being treated wrongly. It is most frustarting to read about Doctors who "think'" locah should not be treated with glucocortocoids.
I put the other board up because the other site mentioned seems to also bombard you with cookies and spam which I find generally annoying to say the least. That and the odd troll making a controversial statement about how locah can be left untreated. Like women near menopause really need their androgen levels to be any higher than they already are at meopause or like they need more risk of cardiovascular problems.
It's pretty hard to read and not comment, so I made another locah support site.
With the nature of the way your body synthesises cholesterol DoorInward, I have to say that lowering your cholesterol levels may help a little, but enhancing that with cortisol replacement would be much better. ALL the cholesterol that your body takes in is shunted down the metabolic pathway to be made into those androgens that is causing the PCOS. Good cholesterol, bad cholesterol--it all get's shoved down there for conversion. It is the elevated androgens that increase cardiovascular risk.
Whereas you could eat a normal diet on the correct glucocorticoid treatment for locah, in your current siutation, it would be a constant daily uphill struggle and watching your foods obsessively to make sure that they don't have cholesterol in them. Whilst the good cholesterol reduces the bad cholesterol to a certain degree, you still have the good cholesterol therefore in the fish oils converting I would say. I don't think adrenals differentiate between what is good and bad when they are grabbing any cholesterol that they need. You still have to take measure to reduce the other good stuff also. Taking supplements is raising it if anything. It's far better to just take the right stuff "instead"of and to reduce the good stuff at that.
Your probably very dedicated to doing that at present. Just as long as your realise that as you get older, it will become much more difficult. With time locah becomes much worse. That and as menopause approaches your estrogens naturally lower and of course the androgens naturally rise then in ALL women. With menopause come the increased risk anyway to cardiovascular problems. So with loach your levels of androgen are going to be that much higher than the average menopausal owmen with normal functioning adrenal glands. Most of the long term studies into not treating this disease recommend glucocroticoid. however, the new wave where the ofdd Doctor advises not to is where they have NO long term study to convince anyone. Technically therefore the ones doing it are the study group.
We can use what knowledges we have though about such and equate that with what happens nayway later in life. men's androgens and dheas lower and womens go higher. So men with locah may not really suffer the side effects for some time. Women are most at risk. Perhaps men are ok--they can get by without treatment. But locah women are different and perhaps that is where some Doctors are assuming ALL sexes with locah are ok untreated? Who knows? I provided a site for those who choose to treated their locah as we treat cah. That was something I had to do because of the behaviour displayed at the other board and the antgonistic attitudes of some women to others who choose to treate their locah so that they can have their dignity and femininity back and also their fertility for those women who are MORE severe and still have time to conceive and have children.
I sense that the site owner felt this was wrong really. That's what I mean by biased information.
Is your PCOS caused by LOCAH? 
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