Incurable condition putting half a million Aussies at quadruple risk of heart disease
Updated . First published
An estimated half a million women in Australia are at higher risk of heart disease due to an incurable hormone condition.
Research has revealed polyendocrine metabolic ovarian syndrome (PMOS), formerly known as polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), could significantly increase a woman’s risk of developing heart disease.
Half a million Australian women may be four times more likely to develop heart disease, according to new research. Chris Hopkins
A team of researchers in the US analysed health insurance data from more than 413,000 women with PMOS aged between 18 and 50.
They discovered those with the condition were four times more likely to develop heart disease compared to women without PMOS.
The risk remained even after accounting for other factors that may lead to heart disease, including obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes.
Researchers said the data suggests that other biological factors related to PMOS may contribute to heart disease and urged women with the condition to be proactive about their heart health.
Though the study, which has been published in The Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology, & Women’s Health journal, focused on women in the US, Australian women living with PMOS may want to consider early screening of their heart health.
It could help them be aware of increased risk and start prevention measures like eating healthy and exercising to ensure their heart stays strong.
About one in eight – or 500,000 women – in Australia live with PMOS, a common and incurable hormone condition which can cause symptoms including:
- missed or irregular periods
- enlarged ovaries and/or ovarian cysts
- excess body hair
- weight gain
- acne and/or oily skin
- infertility
PMOS symptoms vary from one woman to the next and can go unnoticed by doctors for years. Getty Images/iStockphoto
Not all women with PMOS experience the same symptoms and many in Australia go misdiagnosed or undiagnosed for years.
Doctors and scientists still don’t know what causes PMOS, but the recent name change is a step in the right direction according to many advocates and researchers.
“This is to start the next chapter – changing the name is not going to fix everything right now,” Australian endocrinologist and director of the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation Professor Helena Teede said.
“It allows us to move on into a much broader way of researching, paving the way to better treatment, better medication, faster diagnoses.
“It won’t happen overnight, but we really do encourage women to be empowered to speak to their GP and have more evidence-based discussion and understanding of the condition.”
