Millions of women are to be offered an annual review for a “common but often overlooked condition”, health officials have announced.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) said that women with polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS) should be seen by health officials each year to monitor symptoms and treatment and manage long-term health risks.
But these women should not be offered laser hair removal for excess hair growth linked to the condition, according to a new draft guideline.
Until recently, PMOS was known as polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
But global experts came together to call for the condition to be renamed after highlighting that many women are facing delays in diagnosis because there is a misunderstanding about cysts and too much focus on the ovaries.
Now health officials from Nice have called for the condition to be diagnosed sooner as well as an annual review for those who have already been diagnosed.
Nice said the condition affects between three and four million women in the UK but PMOS is “frequently underdiagnosed and inconsistently managed”.
A new draft guideline from the health body recommends that all women with irregular or absent menstrual cycles and symptoms or signs of excessive levels of male hormones should be investigated for PMOS.
It also made a number of other recommendations on fertility care, mental health and long-term health risks linked to the condition.
But the guideline does not recommend laser or light therapies for women who have excess hair growth linked to the condition, known as hirsutism, with Nice saying that this could cost the NHS up to £100 million per year in England.
The guideline says there is a “lack of clinical evidence and uncertainty about cost-effectiveness” for these treatments.
But it does make a number of other recommendations to tackle hirsutism, including use of a contraceptive pill.
Marie Anne Ledingham, consultant clinical adviser for women’s and reproductive health at Nice, said: “PMOS is a common but often overlooked condition that can have a major impact on health and well-being. Recommending a simple annual review is an important step towards ensuring people get the ongoing care and monitoring they need.
“This new guideline will help improve consistency of care, increase awareness of the condition, and support earlier diagnosis and management.”
Commenting, a trustee for the charity Verity, said: “For too long, many have lived with PMOS with little guidance or management from their medical teams.
“Annual testing is welcomed by Verity, to help address the issues many with PMOS face; including being able to take positive and even preventative action to address some of the long-term health aspects of the condition, such as the impact on emotional health, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
“Nice guidelines recommendation is a crucial step that must be taken up by those delivering patient care to ensure equity of care across the country.
“We welcome this step and hope to see many more to address the condition as a long-term, multi-faceted chronic condition.”
