AI Summary
5 min readIn 2025, a condition that affects roughly one in ten women was quietly renamed. Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) became polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS). The change is rare in medicine, and it matters because the old name focused attention on the ovaries, implying the problem was reproductive and that you had to have ovarian cysts to qualify. The new name signals what clinicians now understand: this is a full-body condition involving multiple hormone systems, metabolism, and blood sugar regulation. Dr. Hazel Wallace, a doctor, nutritionist, and author of Not Just a Period, joined host Gemma Styles to explain what is actually happening in the body, why the diagnosis process so often fails women, and what practical steps actually help.
What PMOS actually is and why it is so often missed
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What you'll learn
- 1 (02:48) **Introduction & Episode Premise** - Host Gemma Spike introduces the topic: the psychology of PMOS (formerly PCOS), sharing her own recent diagnosis and the lack of helpful information she found.
- 2 (05:08) **Dr. Hazel’s Background & Why She Pivoted to Women’s Health** - Hazel shares her personal journey from losing her father at 14 to becoming a doctor, then pivoting her work after discovering how neglected women are in medical research.
- 3 (09:36) **What PMOS Is & The Significance of the Name Change** - Hazel breaks down the new name (Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome) and why the change happened just three weeks before this recording.
- 4 (12:44) **The Three Diagnostic Criteria & The “Come Back When You Want Kids” Trap** - Hazel explains the three criteria for diagnosis (two of three needed) and Gemma shares her own frustrating experience of being told to exercise and come back when she wants to get pregnant.
- 5 (17:02) **The Full List of PMOS Symptoms (Beyond Reproduction)** - Hazel lists the most common and distressing symptoms that go beyond period problems.
- 6 (21:50) **What’s Actually Happening in the Body? The Hormonal Cascade** - Hazel explains the cellular and hormonal mechanisms driving PMOS, describing it as a "network problem" between the brain, ovaries, and metabolism.
- 7 (26:53) **The Danger of Online Misinformation & How to Spot It** - The conversation turns to how women turn to social media for help when doctors dismiss them, and the spread of inaccurate "phenotype" categories.
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Show Notes
I was recently diagnosed with PMOS, and with that came a lot of questions: why is my body like this, what caused it, will I be able to have kids, how can I fix it? There's a lot of information (and misinformation) online, so today I decided to sit down with an expert to ask all my burning questions on this condition.
Watch on Netflix: HERE
Dr Hazel Wallace is a medical doctor, registered associate nutritionist, women's health expert, author and founder of the platform, The Food Medic. In this episode, we discuss:
- The origins of PMOS/PCOS
- Why we had to change the PCOS name
- What causes PMOS and whether it's genetic
- How PMOS intersects with psychology and mental health
- The 5 things you should and shouldn't do if you have PMOS
- What actually helps
- How to deal with medical dismissal and misinformation
Happy listening!
Dr Hazel's book HERE
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