Research

Hormonal

Weight loss in obese, hyperandrogenic, amenorrheic women significantly reduces plasma testosterone and LH levels, leading to improved menstrual cyclicity and hirsutism.

For obese women with irregular periods and high male hormones, losing weight through a standard calorie-restricted diet (1000-1500 calories daily) for 6-12 months is a highly effective medical intervention. It lowers testosterone and LH, which often restores ovulation and reduces excess hair growth, regardless of whether they have polycystic ovaries or not.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The women's mean plasma testosterone and LH concentrations decreased significantly (P < 0.001 and P < 0.005, respectively)... Hirsutism improved significantly in more than half of the women... 33% of the menstrual cycles during the study were ovulatory
Renato Pasquali et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1989

Why this rating

Small sample size (n=20) and lack of a control group, but rigorous hormonal measurements.

Source

Clinical and Hormonal Characteristics of Obese Amenorrheic Hyperandrogenic Women Before and After Weight Loss*

Renato Pasquali et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1989

DOI 10.1210/jcem-68-1-173

cohort · n=20Cited 440×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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