What the PCOS-PMOS Rebrand Tells Us About the State of Women’s Health Research
Originally published with Chloe Bird in Ms. magazine on June 11, 2026.
The announcement last month polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) will be renamed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) was a genuine milestone. After 14 years of global collaboration, 22,000 survey responses and workshops spanning every inhabited continent, researchers and patients finally agreed on a name that reflects what the condition actually is: not a quirk of the ovaries, but a complex, multi-system disorder of hormones, metabolism and endocrine function affecting one in eight women worldwide.
For decades, the term polycystic had patients and clinicians alike focusing on ovarian cysts, while metabolic dysfunction and insulin resistance went underappreciated and undertreated. Patients report feeling dismissed, confused and dissatisfied with their care.