Why has PCOS been given a new name? |
For more than two decades, I have studied a condition that shapes the lives of about 10-13% of women. This condition causes complex, wide-ranging symptoms such as irregular periods, excessive hair growth, weight gain, acne and difficulty getting pregnant.
Until a few days ago, I called it polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS. But from now on, I – along with my colleagues, doctors and patients – will call it something different: polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS.
The renaming was announced in a consensus paper just published in The Lancet. It is the result of a process that has taken over ten years, involved more than 22,000 people across six continents, and brought together 56 patients and professional organisations.
Some readers will see “PMOS” and wonder why scientists have spent so much energy on changing just three letters. As one of the researchers involved, I want to explain why this small change is, in fact, a very big one – and why we hope it will lead to better care for patients.
A name that didn’t fit
The old name was a historical accident.
When the doctors who first studied the condition examined affected ovaries under the microscope – and later by ultrasound – they saw clusters of small, fluid-filled sacs they thought were cysts. So the label “polycystic” stuck.
But those structures are........