After two decades of intermittently lobbying for a name change, members of the medical community have finally gotten a new name for PCOS. For years, health experts and the people who’ve lived with the condition have felt that the name polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) didn’t quite embody the symptoms of the condition. That’s why it’s now being called polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). Here’s what you need to know.
The proposal to rename PCOS dates back to the 1990s. The process included surveys of thousands of healthcare professionals and people living with the condition. Based on their responses and information gleaned over the years, the U.S. National Institutes of Health recommended the name change in 2012. It was determined that PMOS would accurately describe what happens.
That’s because the term ‘polycystic’ suggests that you’re dealing with multiple cysts. However, that’s not quite the case. When the illness was first being explored in the 1930s, doctors noted that the ovaries they examined during surgeries were lumpy as if they contained cysts. Since then, health professionals realized that what happens with PMOS isn’t typical of abnormal cysts.
While abnormal ovarian cysts are likely to grow, rupture, bleed, and cause pain, persons with PMOS aren’t more prone to having them than those without the condition. When digging into what’s going on with the ovaries, researchers found that people with PMOS were really dealing with arrested follicles. These follicles are eggs that failed to mature, and so they don’t get released from the ovary as they’re supposed to.
Furthermore, emphasizing the ovaries centered the reproductive system. That led to research that focused only on how the condition affected reproduction, not on other effects. By changing the name to PMOS, it’s easier to see that the condition has far-reaching effects on the endocrine and metabolic systems. In the future, health professionals hope this change will lead to broader studies and greater understanding of the potential symptoms of PMOS.
Of course, there is still a lot of work to be done to get everyone on the same page. Over the next three years, the focus will be on building awareness of the change and ensuring it’s fully adopted.
At the moment, the criteria for diagnosing PMOS haven’t changed. However, health experts hope that re-naming PCOS to reflect the broader effects of the condition can widen the list of symptoms that physicians will consider when making a diagnosis. This change is especially important since a widely quoted World Health Organization (WHO) report stated that up to 70% of the people who have PMOS may be undiagnosed.
Currently, diagnosing PMOS can entail ruling out other conditions while assessing the results of blood tests and ultrasounds. Your doctor will also need to discuss your symptoms and conduct a physical examination as part of the diagnosis process. The physical exam may include looking for common signs of the condition, such as dark patches of skin, skin tags, and abnormal hair growth. You can also expect a pelvic exam, during which the doctor will check for possible sources of issues, such as abnormal bleeding.
The name change may also spark further research into the causes of PMOS and its treatment. While there is a list of potential risk factors for developing the condition, there isn’t a set cause. Researchers are hopeful that a more accurate name may eventually lead to more answers in that regard.
Where treatment is concerned, people with PMOS typically have options to manage their symptoms based on the desire for a family. If you’re not planning to get pregnant, then you may be prescribed hormonal birth control like birth control pills, patches, shots, a vaginal ring, or an intrauterine device (IUD). These forms of birth control can help to regulate your menstrual cycle, while some offer the additional benefit of reducing acne and excessive hair growth. For some people, using insulin-sensitizing medications that are usually used to treat diabetes can help with regularizing their menstrual cycles. You may also be prescribed medications that block androgens, as they can help to control acne and excessive hair growth.
If you would like to get pregnant, then your doctor may focus more on helping you along that journey. Drugs that induce ovulation can get your body to the stage where you’re producing eggs regularly so you can get pregnant. Sometimes, you may need surgery to remove tissue in your ovaries that is producing androgens.
Even with these treatment options, though, some people need to explore in vitro fertilization (IVF), where a healthcare provider collects their eggs and fertilizes them with the partner’s sperm in a lab. The fertilized eggs are then placed in the uterus after they’ve gotten to a certain stage of maturity.
In a review of different studies posted in Science Direct, it was shown that Black women may be affected differently by PMOS. They are more likely to have comorbidities such as high blood pressure and diabetes. When surveyed, they’re also more likely to note a lower quality of life than white women. Although Black women typically have the same risk of developing PMOS, they often go undiagnosed or are diagnosed later than their white counterparts.
Interestingly, the review noted that white women were more likely to be referred for PMOS care than Black women. When seeking care, a higher percentage of Black women did so based on a suggestion from a friend or loved one.
While the reasons for the discrepancies need to be studied further, it’s possible that changing the condition’s name could open the door to more discussion about how it may affect everyone differently.
One good thing about re-naming PCOS to PMOS is that it may open the door to a different kind of conversation with your doctor. While the list of common symptoms may not change, it may be extended.
Currently, the common symptoms of the condition include:
You may also have skin tags, thinning hair, or fertility issues.
When dealing with PMOS, you may also have an increased risk of developing other conditions. A few of the possible issues are diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, endometrial cancer, sleep disorders, depression, and anxiety. According to a report in the March 2023 issue of Science Direct, Black women have been found to have a higher risk of developing metabolic issues such as diabetes and high blood pressure than white women with PMOS.
If you’re experiencing any of these health problems, start by documenting your symptoms. Now that researchers and health professionals are emphasizing the wider implications of PMOS, you may have symptoms that haven’t been discussed before. You should also point out any risk factors that may increase your risk of having PMOS.
While the definitive cause of PMOS hasn’t been identified, you may be more likely to develop the condition if you have a history of it in your family, are overweight, have insulin resistance, or have a higher-than-typical level of androgen in your body. Insulin resistance is usually the cause behind the dark skin patches some people experience with PMOS, while high levels of androgen can cause abnormal hair growth.
Having a frank discussion of your symptoms is an essential step toward getting a diagnosis.
Giving PCOS a name that more accurately reflects the toll it can take on the body may have opened doors for more women to get a much-needed diagnosis. It may also mean that persons with an existing diagnosis can freely discuss all the ways the condition affects them daily. For Black women, in particular, this change may bring them one step closer to lessening the healthcare gap that they’ve been dealing with for years.
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