A recent meta-analysis has shown a statistica link between polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and subclinical hypothyroids. It asks whether treating PCOS will reduce SCH and what the implications are.
Front. Endocrinol., 27 November 2018 | doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018....
Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Xiaohong Ding, Lili Yang, Jian Wang, Rong Tang, Qianqian Chen, Jiexue Pan, Haiyan Yang, Xia Chen, Zimiao Chen and Liangsh
Was it ever considered that the SCH might have come first and be causing the PCOS?
Not known I suspect
But would it not be feasible?
On balance I suspect not because of the different hormonal inputs
The most likely scenario is:
raised levels of testosterone – a hormone often thought of as a male hormone, although all women usually produce small amounts of it
raised levels of luteinising hormone (LH) – this stimulates ovulation, but may have an abnormal effect on the ovaries if levels are too high
low levels of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) – a protein in the blood, which binds to testosterone and reduces the effect of testosterone
raised levels of prolactin (only in some women with PCOS) – hormone that stimulates the breast glands to produce milk in pregnancy
The exact reason why these hormonal changes occur isn't known. It's been suggested that the problem may start in the ovary itself, in other glands that produce these hormones, or in the part of the brain that controls their production. The changes may also be caused by the resistance to insulin.
Sorry to beg the question again but if we do not know why all those hormonal changes occur, how can we be sure it is not low thyroid hormones triggering it?
I have to say that the extraordinary number of changes in my body that have occurred since thyroidectomy lead me to believe that we know only half of what it really affects in the body.
In something as complicated as the human body, cause and effect are often difficult to disntinguish.
I have been a bit convinced for a while that my pcos has just been undiagnosed thyroid issues. PCOS is also I believe a relatively new diagnoses.I don't think it was around when I was a young adult. Did its emergence coincide with other thyroid related issues such as ME and chronic fatigue due to over dependence on TSH. I am confident that I had undiagnosed thyroid disease a longtime before PCOS and that if it even is separate it has come about as a result of thyroid illness untreated.
I absolutely agree. It has come about since the introduction of Levothyroxine and the TSH blood test. Just a coincidence? I think not. Why do they always seem to get the cart before the horse when they do these studies?
I have seen it suggested that Iodine deficiency may be the cause of PCOS. Do you think iodine, as iodide, could be involved?
Is there a link between hypothyroidism and ectopics?
Is there a link between neutropenia and hypothyroidism?
Hyperprolactinemia (high Prolactin) and subclinical / primary hypothyroidism link?
Medication for subclinical hypothyroidism 
Link between hypothyroidism and breast cancer?
