After more than 14 years of research, polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is getting a new name one experts say better reflects the reality of the disease.The condition, which affects more than 170 million women worldwide, will now be known as polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS.The new name was published Tuesday in the medical journalThe Lancetfollowing years of patient feedback and expert review."It's an important, exciting change," said Dr. Kourtney Grant at the University of Kentucky.Grant says the previous name was misleading; ovarian cysts are not part of the criteria for diagnosis. PMOS is actually part of a much broader metabolic condition."Lots of hyper-androgen symptoms, so think things with high testosterone or other male androgen and those traditional male hormones, where we see hair growth, acne changes, thinning hair in places we don't want to thin, thickening hair in places we don't want to thicken," Grant said.The name change was notable for how it came about: not just through healthcare providers, but through direct input from patients themselves."There is so much patient advocacy that is going on right now in the space of pelvic pain, endometriosis, PCOS, and what's actually really interesting about this nomenclature change is it wasn't just healthcare providers, they sent surveys to people with PCOS to get their input on what language do we need to use, what is not stigmatizing," Grant said.The World Health Organization says anywhere from 10 to 13 percent of women are impacted by PCOS, but more than 70 percent of women could be living without even knowing they have it. The name change could help address that in the future."They do have a primary goal of patient satisfaction, getting better care, getting quicker diagnosis and care when it's not just focused on ovarian dysfunction because it is so much bigger than that. It involves insulin resistance and other things like a higher risk for Type 2 diabetes hypertension, lipid abnormalities, cholesterol issues," Grant said.Changing the name may take time to reach patients, and work on finding better solutions is not done yet. Dr. Grant hopes the change shifts research priorities and funding."Just like many things in the women's health space, this is underfunded, understudied. And with hopefully expansion into things that are more akin to insulin resistance and metabolic conditions, finding more funding to explore those pathways -- where diabetes is very well studied comparatively -- and finding more resources, more answers, and more treatment options for patients," Grant said. ...read more read less