In an effort to bring greater awareness to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, PCOS Challenge, Inc. has created a 13-week television series to help women with PCOS. PCOS is estimated to affect one-in-ten women of childbearing age. It can lead to other serious conditions including endometrial cancer, obesity, diabetes and infertility.
"We created the PCOS Challenge television series because, despite affecting one-in-ten women, PCOS gets very little attention in the media and most people are unaware of the condition. PCOS is often under-diagnosed and those who have been diagnosed are left wanting for more resources," says Sasha Ottey, President of PCOS Challenge, Inc., a nonprofit PCOS support organization. "The show will bring answers to the millions of women and families affected by the condition."
The PCOS Challenge television show follows ten women with PCOS as they have their lives transformed by naturopathic and allopathic medical experts and three coaches - registered dietitian Rebecca Mohning, fitness trainer Josef Brandenburg and clinical psychologist Ruth Wittersgreen. The show addresses common PCOS symptoms and related conditions including infertility, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, anxiety and depression, and hirsutism.
Ottey started PCOS Challenge in 2009 after her own diagnosis a year earlier. Addressing the significant gap in the quality of information and resources available to women with PCOS, their supporters and health care professionals, PCOS Challenge has grown to more than 6,000 members in just over a year. The organization is innovative in its multimedia approach to support. Its website PCOSChallenge.com has been called the "Facebook for women with PCOS" by its members, and its popular radio show features internationally renowned experts, New York Times best-selling authors and stories from women living with PCOS. The organization also provides offline support networks and educational seminars.
"PCOS Challenge is a television series that will make a difference in people's lives. It is our hope that the series and PCOS get the attention they deserve. Sasha Ottey and the women on the show are all heroes and needed advocates for women's health," says William R. Patterson, CEO of The Baron Solution Group and Executive Producer of PCOS Challenge.
PCOS Challenge will run in various local cable markets across the United States and will be available online fall 2010. Support for PCOS Challenge is provided in part by Chiral Balance, LLC; EA Sports Active division of Electronic Arts, Inc.; Diet-to-Go; US Foodservice; Pulling Down the Moon; Shady Grove Fertility Center; SUBWAY of Georgetown; Definitions Personal Training Plus; and Green Mountain at Fox Run.
Diabetes drugs cut asthma attacks by up to 70%, reshaping treatment options