• A consortium of health organizations has renamed PCOS to PMOS.
• Experts say the new name better reflects the condition’s broader hormonal and metabolic effects.
• Clinicians hope the change will improve diagnosis, awareness, and research into the condition.

PCOS, a hormonal condition affecting about 5 million women in the United States, has a new name. "Polycystic ovary syndrome" will now be called "polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome," or PMOS. Members of 56 health organizations worldwide published the decision in The Lancet on May 12, arguing that the old name was an inaccurate reflection of the condition.

Here’s what to know about what prompted the change, what it means, and how clinicians hope it will help patients.

What Led to the Name Change?

The name change was actually long overdue, said Helena Teede, PhD, an endocrinologist at Monash Health in Australia and a lead author of the paper announcing the new name.

Mounting research over the past two decades has shown that PCOS is not just an ovarian disorder, but is actually rooted in hormonal disturbances. “The previous name of polycystic ovary syndrome completely misled women about what they had, and completely neglected the key features of the condition," Teede told Health.

It took time to get everyone on board, Teede said, but the consortium was finally able to rename the condition based on surveys of over 14,000 people with PCOS and health professionals around the world. 

Teede said the consensus among patients was especially clear: 86% supported a new name that nodded more accurately to their broad range of symptoms—everything from irregular periods and excess hair growth to insulin resistance, weight changes, and fertility concerns.

“People who have this condition are so frustrated—appropriately so—that they have been misdiagnosed or dismissed or not had adequate care for so long,” Teede said.

Why PMOS?

The new name better reflects what patients actually experience: a whole-body hormonal and metabolic condition, not simply “cysts on the ovaries,” said Thais Aliabadi, MD, a Los Angeles-based OBGYN, cofounder of Ovii, and cohost of the “She MD” podcast.

You Don't Need Cysts to Have PMOS

One of the biggest issues with the previous name was an overemphasis on ovarian cysts, which are small, fluid-filled sacs on the ovaries. The old name suggested that the condition was defined by ovarian cysts, but you don't actually need cysts to have PMOS.

In fact, rather than having ovarian cysts, many patients with the condition have an abnormally large number of follicles—fluid-filled sacs that develop each month to release eggs during ovulation. Ovarian cysts, meanwhile, are follicles that persist or grow when the normal ovulation process is disrupted. 

In PMOS patients, follicles may not mature or release an egg as they should, so they build up in the ovaries and can look like cysts on an ultrasound.

The distinction matters, Aliabadi said, because “ovarian follicles seen on ultrasound are not the same as dangerous cysts."

The Primary Problem Is With Hormones, Not Cysts

Additionally, the old name suggested the condition was defined solely by a patient's ovaries. But experts said this categorization neglects key hormonal and metabolic components of the condition.

What's actually going on, Teede explained, is that genetic changes disturb a patient's hormonal system, increasing the risk of "a whole range of complications," such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, mood disorders, and endometrial cancer. 

The ovaries are “affected by those chemical messengers, but also then produce and exacerbate that problem," Teede added.

According to Aliabadi, many patients never felt like PCOS was an accurate name because their symptoms go far beyond the ovaries to include effects like hair thinning, mood changes, and long-term metabolic risk. 

"The new name, PMOS, helps validate that this is a whole-body endocrine and metabolic condition,” she said.

The old focus on ovaries also led to a smaller scope of research, limited funding, and weaker education for providers. 

"In six years of really good medical training, I had a one-hour lecture on the infertility of this condition," Teede said. “Women get really frustrated about the fact that their doctors don’t know enough and dismiss them, but it’s largely because it’s in the wrong box. It’s wrongly categorized.”

What's Next?

The new name won't improve patient care overnight. Teede said the consortium plans to spend three years incorporating the new name into various aspects of healthcare, from disease classification to clinical guidelines and provider education.

The name change should also open the door for wider research with a bigger funding pool, Teede said, and encourage specialists—like endocrinologists, cardiologists, and psychologists—to start working with patients alongside gynecologists and primary care providers.

In the meantime, patients shouldn't panic if they see both PCOS and PMOS used for a while, Aliabadi said, as it takes time to update records, insurance systems, guidelines, and patient education.

"A patient who was diagnosed with PCOS should not feel that their condition has disappeared or that they need to start over," Aliabadi added. "Instead, this change should help patients receive more complete care."

Source link

Kristina Dawson