In May 2026, after a decade-long international effort, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) was officially renamed. Its new name is polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome, or PMOS. The announcement was published in The Lancet as the outcome of a multistep global consensus process involving patients, clinicians and researchers.
If you have lived with a PCOS diagnosis, nothing about your condition, your diagnosis or your treatment changes. What changes is the label, and the label matters more than it might seem.
Why the old name needed to go
The name "polycystic ovary syndrome" has been criticised for decades, by patients and clinicians alike, because it is inaccurate on almost every count.
The "cysts" are not cysts. The small fluid-filled sacs visible on an ultrasound are follicles, the normal structures that hold maturing eggs. In PMOS there are simply more of them, paused partway through development. They are not the pathological cysts the name suggests, they do not need to be removed, and many people diagnosed with the condition do not have them at all.
The name also pointed everyone in the wrong direction. By putting the ovaries front and centre, it framed a whole-body condition as a gynaecological one. In reality the condition involves several hormone systems at once: insulin and blood sugar regulation, androgens, the brain's signalling to the ovaries, and often thyroid and stress hormone interactions. The metabolic side, insulin resistance in particular, is central for most people, yet it was invisible in the name. Research funding, clinical guidelines and everyday conversations with doctors all inherited that blind spot.
What patients said
The renaming was not a rebranding exercise by a committee. The process gathered more than 14,000 survey responses from patients and health professionals across multiple world regions, and more than 50 patient and professional organisations took part. Among patients, 86 percent supported changing the name, citing stigma, confusion and fragmented care. Clinician support was also strong.
The new name was chosen to describe what the condition actually is:
- Polyendocrine: several hormone systems are involved, not just the ovaries.
- Metabolic: insulin resistance and the metabolic features that drive much of the long-term health picture.
- Ovarian: the link to ovulation and cycle symptoms, which remain a core feature for many.
- Syndrome: a recognisable pattern of features that varies from person to person.
What changes for you, and what does not
Your diagnosis is still valid, and nothing about your care needs to change. The diagnostic criteria are the same. Treatments are the same. Medical classification codes (such as ICD-10 code E28.2) have not changed yet; those systems update on their own slower timetables.
The transition is planned to take about three years, as clinical guidelines around the world are gradually updated. During that time you will see both names, often together, and that is expected. Your doctor may say PCOS, PMOS or both.
The new name in other languages
Each language is adopting its own version. In French, the new name is syndrome métabolique ovarien polyendocrinien (SMOP), replacing SOPK. Dutch and German use the same abbreviations as English, so PCOS becomes PMOS.
How Josie uses the new name
Josie uses PMOS throughout the app and this website (SMOP in French). The reports you share with your doctor introduce it as "PMOS (formerly PCOS)", because not every clinician will recognise the new name yet.
The condition you are managing is the same one it was before the announcement. But the new name describes it more honestly: a whole-body hormonal and metabolic condition, not an ovary problem. For a condition that affects around 1 in 8 women of reproductive age and has long been under-recognised, a name that tells the truth is a real step forward. If you want the full picture of what PMOS involves, start with our guide to PMOS.
