PCOS Officially Renamed After 14 Years Of Research & ‘Inaccurate’ Misconceptions

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) has been officially renamed as part of an initiative to curb misconceptions and push for improved diagnosis and treatment of the health disorder.

Now relabelled as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), the condition is a common hormonal and metabolic disorder that affects 170 million women worldwide and can lead to infertility, weight fluctuations, and changes to reproductive and mental health. 

The name change to PMOS was announced at the eighth European Congress of Endocrinology in Prague on Tuesday, the same day that it was given official status by being published in The Lancet, a respected peer-reviewed medical journal.

The relabelling is the result of 14 years of research and 22,000 survey responses as part of an initiative that argued the previous name was inaccurate because it placed disproportionate emphasis on the ovaries, which are often just a small part of the condition’s broader effect on hormones, the endocrine, and the metabolism. 

That, coupled with the previous name’s mention of cysts despite the disorder not involving cysts, was behind the renaming effort, which is expected to help avoid misdiagnoses, improve treatment, and validate the experience of those with the condition. 

“Not only will it move away from that inaccurate cyst implication and the focus on the ovaries, it will actually get people to understand the broader nature of the condition, that it is an endocrine or hormonal imbalance condition,” Professor Helena Teede, who led the renaming effort, told the ABC. 

The more all-encompassing name means sufferers can be diagnosed with PMOS without having cystic issues, and that the scope of treatment for the disorder’s long-term risks — which include cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes — is broadened.  

The new name will not change the list of symptoms required for a PMOS diagnosis. 

“It might sound like it’s just a simple name change, but it’s seriously not,” Teede said. “It will validate what a lot of women know and experience.”

According to the World Health Organisation, 70 per cent of women are thought to be unaware they are living with the condition, with the name change hopefully prompting people who may have missed earlier diagnoses to present again for treatment. 

Though it made its official debut at the European Congress of Endocrinology and in The Lancet, there is now a three-year implementation process in the works to have PMOS incorporated into the International Classification of Diseases by 2028.

Lead images: Getty