The renaming of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) to polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) by the global medical establishment underscores the ongoing complexities of personalized health. This decision, reported by The Lancet, aims to more accurately reflect the hormonal and metabolic nature of the condition, which affects approximately 170 million women worldwide.
Understanding PMOS
PMOS often does not involve ovarian cysts, despite its original name, and impacts multiple organs. It's linked to conditions like insulin resistance, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and obstructive sleep apnea. The New York Times highlights how focusing on a single symptom has hindered clinical training and research funding, resulting in delayed diagnosis and fragmented care.
Victoria Song, a senior reviewer at The Verge, shares her personal journey with PMOS. Despite having insulin resistance instead of ovarian cysts, her experience underscores the condition's varied manifestations. Her esthetician, also a PMOS sufferer, manages symptoms differently, illustrating the individualized nature of treatment.
The Role of Health Tech
Song's experience with PMOS influenced her interest in health tech. She notes that personalized health remains a recurring theme in her discussions with companies. The promise of personalized health relies on extracting meaningful insights from vast health data. This can lead to recommendations tailored to individual metrics, such as exercise or dietary suggestions based on health data from wearables.
While personalized health is appealing, Song emphasizes its current limitations. Despite technological advancements, health tech often fails to account for unique health conditions like PMOS. Weight loss, a common recommendation for PMOS, can be challenging due to insulin resistance and lower basal metabolic rates, complicating conventional approaches.
Challenges in Implementation
Fitness and nutrition tech often overlook factors like hormonal birth control's impact, making it hard to predict fertile windows for PMOS sufferers. The lack of personalized modes in health tech highlights a gap in addressing non-normative health scenarios. Generative AI's infancy and the human body's complexity further complicate the development of truly personalized health tech.
Song notes the disparity between the pace of technological innovation and the time required for robust scientific research. PMOS, identified in 1935, only received an accurate name in 2026 after extensive efforts. Yet, personalized health features are being introduced rapidly, potentially leading to experiences built on shifting foundations.
Looking Ahead
Song remains cautiously optimistic about the future of personalized health. She hopes for the development of "algorithmic modes" that consider different diagnoses and treatments. However, she warns that current personalized health tech requires significant effort from users to tailor solutions to their needs.
As companies continue to push the concept of personalized health, Song advises caution, emphasizing that it isn't as simple as wearing a device and consulting an AI. Meanwhile, she continues to explore potential treatments like the milk thistle supplement recommended by her esthetician.
Source: https://www.theverge.com/column/931148/optimizer-pmos-pcos-personalized-health
