Local Author Takes New Approach to Women's Health Problem

Arlington nutritionist Hillary Wright found career inspiration from right inside her childhood home on Chestnut Street, where her father, Dr. Alan J. Wright, ran a popular dental practice. Now she is combining two very different areas of her own health expertise in her innovative fertility research and her new book.  

Wright first became interested in dietary health as a career while she was in college, watching two of her younger brothers grapple with type 1 diabetes. Fast forward to 2003, when many women began seeking Wright's counsel about ovulation irregularities and related concerns.

Her dual interests led her on a path of extensive research, and eventually, years of writing what would become her first book, The PCOS Diet Plan: A Natural Approach to Health for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.

Wright now serves as the director of nutrition counseling at the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Waltham and released her book earlier this month. She is hopeful that it will help women understand the syndrome and empower them to counter its effects. Wright sat down with Patch to talk about her new book and her research.

Q: What is PCOS?

Hillary Wright: "PCOS is the most common hormonal disorder for women in their reproductive years and it's the primary cause of infertility in women who don't ovulate regularly. Ground zero for PCOS is insulin resistance, which is a hormonal disorder that in its most advanced form causes type 2 diabetes. It means these women don't use the hormone insulin very effectively, so the pancreas, which makes insulin, gets used to cranking out a lot of insulin to force the action on the cells of the body.

Q: How widespread is the syndrome?

HW: "We now think that 10 percent of all women have polycystic ovary syndrome. Its been said that up to 30 percent of women may have some elements of it. So it isn't a passing phase, it's a real problem."

Q: What should a woman look out for as signs of having PCOS?

HW: "She needs to look at how often she has her period. These women either don't get their period at all or they get it a few times a year. Also, looking for clinical symptoms of androgynism, which are basically

signs that they have too much testosterone in their system.

Q: How can women counter PCOS with their food choices?

HW: "The cornerstone of the PCOS diet is what I call a carbohydrate-distributed diet. What a lot of these women are vulnerable to are low carbohydrate diets, which as we all know were flamingly popular back in the 90s and the early 2000s. The thing about low carbohydrate diets is you wind up throwing out the baby with the bathwater. There are a lot of carbohydrates that are really healthy for you and there's no reason you can't eat them."

Q: Will women who follow this plan eradicate PCOS completely, or will they still need drugs?

HW: "PCOS isn't curable in that it's a genetic problem, but you can control it. I would argue that medication is a secondary treatment. Diet and lifestyle changes are the primary treatment, with medications added as needed to further regulate someone's hormones, particularly if they're trying to start ovulating and get pregnant. You really need to focus on the holistic side of the equation first, because the medications will only take you so far until you look at your eating habits and whether or not you're getting exercise. Exercise naturally makes your body use insulin more effectively, so it's a natural medicine for PCOS. The medication they primarily use is called metformin, and it's a diabetes drug that chemically sensitizes the cells to insulin. Well, exercise actually does the same thing."

Q: Do you employ any sort of strategy to keep your readers on track?

HW: "Because I've seen these women for so long I actually know what they anticipate and what makes them uncomfortable, feel threatened, or feel that they're going to fail. So throughout the book I insert these things to say, 'I know what you're thinking.' I try to make it really palatable with a positive focus throughout the whole book so people don't stumble in the usual places."