From PCOS to PMOS

Who put the M in PCOS? Spolier alert: a woman.

I promised I wouldn’t give a blow by blow account of my young adult life, and yet that’s precisely what I’ve done in the last two posts, so I’m bringing it back to the present tense.

Tonight over some Pho (honestly well done if you actually say Phuh because I sound unwell) I was awkwardly telling one of my dearest friends about this new mission of mine. Awkward because PMOS is something I’ve not necessarily hidden from my loved ones up until now, but I’ve sure as hell not zoned in on it over broth much. Mission because I do feel slightly like a crazed woman on a mission at the moment. I’ve reached premature midlife crisis (don’t worry lads, premature is OK) and decided to bloody well do something about. For about 20 of my 35 years on little old melty earth I’ve been looking for some other women to chat, laugh and cry with when it comes to PMOS, but I just couldn’t find them. Maybe they’ll all start burrowing through the hormonal earth like little fluffy blind moles and we’ll all be friends like on Springwatch.

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Anyway, while I was cramming a few more mint leaves into my soup, my lovely friend asked what the difference between PCOS and PMOS is - and considering it’s highly likely the only people reading this right now are those that feel obliged, aka my friends and fam, I thought I’d explain. Side note: my longer term hopes and dreams are also that any single person, regardless of their gender, identity, hormones or otherwise can find something relatable or insightful among the swearing here.

PCOS = Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.

First named in 1935 when MAN and MAN noticed ovaries containing many small follicles, or cysts, to cause symptoms such as irregular periods or infertility. I suspect that because it was a solely female condition, they took one look at the reproductive system and thought that would do. However, and I’m no doctor now, from what we know of other famous hormonal or reproductive moments, such as like oh pregnancy or something weird, there is a tendency for your highly functioning and fucking fantastic female body to trigger off a few more small side effects (such as losing your mind or your hair or your bones suddenly breaking 🤷🏻‍♀️). So naturally you’d think MAN, MAN and MAN would start to add a few things up, but alas, it took a cool 91 years of noggin scratchin for a rebrand.

PMOS = Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome. This change was made by a WOMAN. A bloody patient one at that - Helen Teede, working tirelessly for well over a decade for the rebrand. I work in marketing so can relate tbf.

It involved more than 50 medical and patient organisations, international surveys and consultations with over 20,000 patients, clinicians, and researchers. All that for something so abundantly obvious if you do have PMOS. What PCOS did was put all the blame on the ovaries, making them the problem child. Imagine being an ovary, overworked, underpaid, and then you get (quite literally) lumped with being called polycystic. Even worse because the so called cysts are actually follicles. Anyway. PMOS affects multiple hormone systems. Side note - are you ready for this - there are over 50 hormones in the body. Some are very well known, such as estrogen and testosterone (reproduction), insulin (energy), cortisol (stress management, metabolism, inflammation, blood pressure), leptin (appetite), ghrelin (food intake management) and so on, and on and on. With PMOS they are all off kilter. All the time. What does that mean in reality? Your metabolism, insulin regulation, weight, cardiovascular risk, and reproductive health are all impacted.

So, this is what PMOS means now:

• Polyendocrine = multiple hormone (endocrine) systems are involved.

  • Examples include insulin, androgens, luteinising hormone, and other reproductive hormones.

• Metabolic = the condition commonly affects how the body uses energy and regulates blood sugar.

  • Insulin resistance (fatigue, brain fog, difficulty processing food, acne), increased risk of type 2 diabetes, and cholesterol abnormalities are common.

• Ovarian = the ovaries are still involved, including ovulation problems and fertility effects for some.

• Syndrome = a collection of related symptoms rather than a single disease process. Something that can’t or won’t go away…

For me, and I’m sure many others, the rename to PMOS is fucking important, and should be used as much as is possible. Even in beginning this Substack, I found that really everyone is still using PCOS and so while naming the site PMOS probably isn’t doing me many favours, but I really do insist. If the Suffragettes got somewhere, I’m sure all the internet robots of 2026 can do some magic with tags or whatever.

Oh. I just googled ‘PCOS’ and saw that the NHS website hadn’t bothered to update to PMOS, the only UK based PMOS charity is still using PCOS everywhere, and the World Health Organization also didn’t think it important to mention.) What concerns me most is that doctor wrinkle might not be too fussed by the change either - after all, does a name really undo 91+ years of medical practice? The diagnostic criteria and ORDEAL, the symptoms, and ‘treatments’ - let alone the horribly contradictory or non-existent advice out there - did not suddenly change because of the new name. The new term may better reflect current scientific understanding of the condition, but it sure as hell won’t change how millions of women are treated across the planet.

So hopefully that clears some things up. Have you noticed the change? Talked about it? Researched it? Send this to someone who might like to know if not.