Research

Hormonal

Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) exhibit significantly higher carotid artery intima-media thickness (CIMT) compared to controls, indicating accelerated subclinical atherosclerosis.

If you have PCOS, your risk for early arterial stiffening is higher than women without the condition. This is not a diagnosis of heart disease, but a signal to aggressively manage blood pressure, lipids, and insulin resistance through diet and exercise to prevent long-term cardiovascular damage.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
The summary mean difference in CIMT among women with PCOS compared with controls was 0.072 mm [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.040, 0.105, P < 0.0001] for highest quality studies... these results suggest women with PCOS are at a greater risk of premature atherosclerosis
Michelle L. Meyer et al. · Human Reproduction Update · 2011

Why this rating

Systematic review and meta-analysis of 19 studies (n=2046), though significant heterogeneity exists across study quality.

Source

Carotid artery intima-media thickness in polycystic ovary syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Michelle L. Meyer et al. · Human Reproduction Update · 2011

DOI 10.1093/humupd/dmr046

Meta-analysis · 19 studiesCited 169×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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