The NHS has been urged to update its website after PCOS was renamed PMOS, or polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome.

Last week, the condition, thought to affect about one in eight women, was given a new name after a 14-year effort involving medical experts, charities and women with lived experience of the disorder.

However, the NHS website contains no mention of the new name or any change to the information provided about the condition.

Neelam Heera-Shergill, chief executive and founder of the charity Cysters, urged action.

She said: “As an organisation rooted in reproductive and health justice, we welcome conversations around language that better reflect the realities and experiences of those living with PMOS/PCOS. But any name change must go beyond symbolism.

“Communities deserve clear, accessible and timely information so people are not left confused, excluded or struggling to access support and diagnosis.

“We hope to see the NHS move quickly to update information and public-facing resources in a way that is inclusive, culturally competent and centred on the needs of the communities most impacted.

“For many people, especially those from marginalised backgrounds who already face barriers within healthcare, clarity and visibility can make a real difference in accessing the rightful care and support they need.”

However, Caroline Andrews, a trustee of the charity Verity, said the announcement of the new name came with a three-year transition period.

She added that the NHS is going through many changes, with a new health secretary recently announced after the resignation of Wes Streeting.

In addition, 2026 has seen the launch of the renewed Women’s Health Strategy for England, while the UK National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is expected to publish the first standalone guidelines for PMOS/PCOS later this year.

Andrews said: “We fully appreciate that they [the NHS] need transition time just like we do, just like many other organisations do.

“And we’d much rather the NHS do this carefully and thoughtfully, considering this in placement with all the lines of care, such as the fact the Nice guidelines are coming through, and how this is fitting with the delivery of care.”

Prof Channa Jayasena, an expert in reproductive endocrinology at Imperial College London, welcomed the name change.

He said: “I think it’s a tremendous initiative, and I think it’s a great step forward in trying to help women and clinicians understand the full breadth of the seriousness [of the] condition.”

But he added that the shift has only just occurred, with professional societies around the world meeting to inform their members about the change.

He said: “There’s a long history of many conditions sometimes still being called outdated things by clinicians because it takes a while for the workforce to be updated and upskilled.

“And I can guarantee you, not all doctors know about this at the moment, and therefore not all patients will.

“So I think it’s a great move in the right direction, which shows where we should be going.

“But professional societies which have webpages, obviously patient support groups, and the NHS will, I fully expect, over the next year or two, be updating all their websites.”

However, Dr Sophie Williams of the University of Derby and an expert on PCOS/PMOS and mental health said the three-year transition for the name change could cause confusion.

She said: “When you go on the NHS website and it’s still [saying] polycystic ovaries, PCOS… as a member of the public, that might make you question the legitimacy of the information you’re getting.

“[The NHS website] is one of the first places any person might think to go to for health care advice that is rigorous, that is reliable. So from my perspective, I do think that the sooner the better.”

Williams said one option would be to run two shadow webpages that link together, one for PCOS and one for PMOS, or to include text on the current page referring to the name change and noting that information is being reviewed.

An NHS spokesperson said: “We routinely review and update content on the NHS website to ensure it reflects the latest clinical advice and will carefully consider these recommendations.

“The NHS will also continue our work to improve women’s healthcare, including for this important group, which involves giving women more choice over their care, bringing down waiting times, and delivering more care in communities.”

Wegovy is linked to lower risks of migraine and depression in menopausal women than hormone therapy alone, a study has found.

Women across all menopause stages taking semaglutide had a 42 to 45 per cent lower risk of migraine six months after starting the medication and a 25 per cent lower risk of depression than those who took menopausal hormone therapy alone.

The findings are based on a one-year real-world study of more than 34,000 menopausal women in the US who took hormone therapy, Wegovy or a combination of both.

They were announced by Wegovy manufacturer Novo Nordisk, alongside data from the randomised, double-blinded STEP UP and SELECT trials, at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul last week.

Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Wegovy, a weight-loss drug.

Dr Emilia Huvinen, a gynaecologist researcher and associate professor at the University of Helsinki, who was involved in two of the three studies, said: “Menopause, associated weight gain and unwanted changes in cardiometabolic markers can significantly impact long-term health and wellbeing of women.

“Still, they remain one of the most neglected areas in obesity research.

“Whether we look at cardiovascular outcomes or weight loss across menopausal stages, semaglutide appears to offer meaningful benefits for women with obesity that extend well beyond weight loss alone.”

Cardiometabolic markers are measures linked to heart and metabolic health, such as blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol and waist size.

Analysis of the STEP UP trial found that premenopausal women with obesity lost an average of 22.6 per cent of their body weight when taking a once-weekly dose of Wegovy compared with placebo.

A placebo is a dummy treatment used to compare results against an active medicine.

Researchers said the average waist circumference reduction in premenopausal, perimenopausal and postmenopausal women was 17.5 per cent, 15.6 per cent and 15.3 per cent respectively, indicating a major loss of dangerous visceral fat.

Visceral fat is fat stored around internal organs and is linked to a higher risk of heart and metabolic disease.

The STEP UP trial involved 1,407 adults with a body mass index, or BMI, of 30 or above and investigated the efficacy and safety of Wegovy 7.2mg jabs.

BMI is a measure that uses height and weight to estimate whether a person is in a healthy weight range.

The SELECT trial involved 17,604 participants aged 45 or older with a BMI of 27 or above and assessed the impact of Wegovy on cardiovascular health compared with placebo.

A post-hoc analysis of the SELECT trial found that perimenopausal and postmenopausal women with obesity and heart disease had a reduced risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death.

A post-hoc analysis is carried out after a study has finished and can help identify patterns, although it is generally seen as less definitive than the original planned analysis.

Novo Nordisk said obesity affects nearly one in five women globally, and the burden intensifies during menopause because hormonal changes accelerate weight gain, redistribute fat to the abdomen and increase cardiometabolic risk.

It added that the three studies show that when women with obesity lose weight with Wegovy, they improve their body composition with reduced waist circumference, indicating less visceral fat, and also reduce their risk of heart attacks and strokes while improving quality of life, from migraine burden to depression and menopause symptoms.