49. PCOS is Now PMOS: What This Historic Name Change Means for Your Diagnosis

So let's talk about the harm in the term polycystic ovarian syndrome or PCOS.

The name implies that there's going to be cysts on the ovaries, but research confirms that not everybody has cysts on their ovaries if they have PCOS or PMOS.

Also, not everybody who has a cyst on their ovary has PMOS.

So we needed to change the name here.

To get a diagnosis of PCOS or PMOS, there's the Rotterdam criteria.

And you need to check two of these three boxes for that diagnosis.

So the first characteristic is you have irregular or absent ovulation.

So how this translates then is that you're having less than nine periods per year or your cycles are greater than 35 days.

We can also see that maybe you're only having a period once a quarter or maybe not at all.

Now, this is going to be different than I'm perimenopause or postmenopausal.

There's a defining difference there.

Like these PCOS symptoms are usually happening in your earlier cycling years.

Then criteria number two is that you have high androgen levels.

Now, visible signs of having high androgens are going to be something like excess facial or body hair, acne, thinning hair on your head, oily skin.

Those are some visible signs of excess androgens.

But then on labs, you can see elevated free and total testosterone or other androgen levels being elevated.

Now, characteristic number three or criteria number three would be those polycystic ovaries.

So this would mean that you had multiple cysts on your ovaries or that your ovarian volume is increased.

We can also see on blood labs potentially an elevated AMH level.

But as I mentioned before, you can have cysts on your ovaries and not have PCOS.

So it's not always a defining criteria.

Now, remember, you have to have two of those three different categories in order to have gotten the PCOS diagnosis previously.

I'm suspecting that that criteria is going to be shifting and changing with this new name of PMOS.

So we're just going to have to wait and see how they change this.

But I just want you to know that this isn't just a semantic issue.