Roughly 10% of women and girls of reproductive age worldwide are diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, and a recent study found the chronic condition can result in cognitive decline, CNN reported Jan. 31.
The study, published in Neurology, followed 907 women between ages 18 and 30 for 30 years. The study completed tests on memory, verbal abilities, attention and processing speed. Of participants, 66 were diagnosed with PCOS and scored about 11% lower on average compared to women without the condition. PCOS also lowered measurements of memory and verbal abilities. Researchers also compared brain scans of people with and without PCOS and found 25 participants with the condition had white matter in porter condition, a sign of brain aging.
"Our results suggest that people with this condition have lower memory and thinking skills and subtle brain changes at midlife," the study authors said in a Jan. 31 news release. "They are performing worse than other women on these tests, but they are not performing in the impaired range."
The study was led by researchers at the University of California San Francisco, Ann Arbor-based University of Michigan and Nashville, Tenn.-based Vanderbilt University.