Women with long term conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome are often left feeling abandoned and alone. Our healthcare system could do so much more to recognise – and therefore mitigate – their suffering. Dr. Anne Connolly discusses the latest advances in diagnosis and the need for better guidance.
For polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) — the most common endocrine disorder, experienced by up to 13% of women of reproductive age — timely detection can be the difference between mild and severe consequences. There is significant variation in the kind and severity of symptoms that patients experience. But too often, women in the UK aren't diagnosed in time to allow them the information required to make lifestyle changes or provide treatments to reduce symptoms. This is because of reasons ranging from low awareness of those symptoms, lack of NICE guidance, and over reliance on outdated methods of detection.
A simple blood test for Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) recently received CE-mark approval for a claim extension, making it the first blood test that can be used to detect a key marker of PCOS. This signals a huge milestone in making PCOS diagnosis easier and more accessible. But this approval is just the first step in a long journey to giving women the answers they need, when they need them.
For this test to make a difference to these women's lives, there needs to be a wholesale shift in how we and our healthcare systems approach PCOS.
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