Melissa Dahl Health writer • E-mail

“It was very hard to face my friends. I hated going to school,” says Robidoux, who’s now 28 and lives in Blackstone, Mass. “I remember waking up and telling my mom, ‘Homeschool me!’”

Two years later, Robidoux learned she had polycystic ovary syndrome, a condition that stops regular ovulation, triggers an increase in masculinizing hormones and is a leading cause of infertility. PCOS gets its name from the small ovarian cysts commonly seen in patients. The syndrome now affects one in 15 women worldwide, according to a recent report by Australian researchers. The report predicts that as obesity rates increase, so will cases of PCOS.

Insulin overload
Researchers think that as some women gain weight, their bodies experience a sort of insulin overload, which increases production of male hormones known as androgens.

Visible symptoms of PCOS include acne; excessive hair growth on the face, chest, stomach and other unexpected areas; male-pattern baldness; weight gain; patches of thick, dark brown skin; and tiny extra flaps of skin in the armpits or on the neck. For women with the condition, it can be humiliating.

“Not only is it embarrassing, it hurts psychologically,” says Christine DeZarn, who was diagnosed with PCOS 16 years ago. “It attacks everything that makes a woman feminine.”

PCOS can also lead to long-term health risks such as an increased chance of developing diabetes, high blood pressure or cancer. But many women who have PCOS symptoms go undiagnosed. Because the symptoms are so embarrassing, many women do as much as they can to hide it — and they never consider mentioning any of it to their doctor.

DeZarn was having trouble getting pregnant, so at age 27, she visited her doctor to figure out the problem. She’d noticed that she’d gained some weight and was suddenly growing facial hair, but she never connected these issues, so she didn’t mention them to her doctor.

“In my mind, that was a cosmetic thing,” says DeZarn, who’s now 43 and lives in Atlanta. “It had nothing to do with anything medical.”

‘A careful look’
Although it’s harder for doctors to diagnose PCOS if the patient doesn’t mention any of the symptoms, it’s still possible, says Dr. Richard Hellman, a clinical endocrinologist in Kansas City, Mo. It just requires some extra time and a closer look.

“Many doctors often are moving so quickly; they react to what people are coming into the office for and don’t take a careful look,” says Hellman, who’s also president of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.  “Sometimes, if a person doesn’t want to bring it up, you can still see evidence of it.”

When DeZarn learned she had PCOS, she immediately started researching. But in the days before Google and WebMD, information was hard to find. She later started the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome Association, a support group for women with PCOS.

“I wanted women to know that they were not alone, to end the sense of ‘freakishness’ and isolation that, ironically, characterizes this all-too-common condition,” DeZarn explains.

Hellman says for his patients, a PCOS diagnosis can be good news. All of these problems — the acne, the body hair, the changes in menstruation — are connected to a condition that is fairly common.

“When you understand it’s a problem — that it’s common, it’s not the mark of Cain — I think there’s a palpable sense of relief,” Hellman says.