Konesha Williams began preparing herself for what appeared to be her father's final months. And when she missed her period two months in a row, she figured that the pressure she faced was the cause.
"That was irregular for me," Williams said. "I thought it was possibly stress."
After another month where she didn't get her period, Williams went to the doctor, and a vaginal ultrasound was performed. The results showed cysts on her ovaries. Williams was diagnosed with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome and placed on birth control.
"I felt a little ashamed," Williams said about her diagnosis. "I didn't know too much about it."
PMOS was once referred to as PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), but it was officially renamed this past spring. According to doctors it is the most common reproductive endocrine disorder, affecting roughly one in 10 women. Physicians have said the original name was a misnomer, which led people to believe that it was primarily a disease of ovarian cysts that affected reproductive functions.
"We (now) know that it's actually a multi-systemic disorder," said Dr. Snigdha Alur-Gupta, a reproductive endocrinologist and infertility specialist at University of Rochester Medicine. "It's an endocrine issue and it can affect multiple functions, too."
Other complications of PMOS often include infertility, hirsutism, fatigue, and weight gain, all of which have affected Williams.
"The weight gain is terrible," Williams said. "I feel like I'm fighting my body each day, and I don't know my body."
These complications can bring on other underlying health conditions like high blood pressure, prediabetes, anxiety, and depression.
"Women with PMOS do have to be more proactive because they've got this underlying high androgen insulin resistance that can drive a lot of these risks, if not all of them," Alur-Gupta said.
She led a recent study that showed women with PMOS are four times more likely to develop atherosclerotic cardiovascular diseases. The American Heart Association noted that those conditions "remain the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally."
"I still want to live," Williams said. "I hate that all this is coming out, but again, I like the fact that they changed the name because it's affecting everybody."
Alur-Gupta said the irregular menstrual cycles, like what Williams experienced, could just be the "tip of the iceberg" for these women. She said combating PMOS and other related conditions will require all health professionals working together to provide the best treatment for each individual.
"A lot of the reason for the name change is to help better support healthcare professionals as well as women who are affected by the disease," Alur-Gupta said.
