Our new research among women and clinicians found confusion over the name PCOS, limited evidence about the condition, and large amount of misinformation online fed into common misconceptions about PCOS. These myths and assumptions are harming women and standing in the way of appropriate health care.
Being told you may not be able to have children can be devastating news. Now Sydney researchers believe many women are being diagnosed with a common disorder linked to infertility when they may be perfectly healthy.
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is associated with weight gain, irregular periods, skin problems, and signs of excessive male hormones. PCOS is often thought of as being under-diagnosed — but a new study of Australian doctors has found that many are concerned it is, in [...]
Clinicians tend to think of diseases as being immutable, existing in nature like elements of the periodic table or the planets. The medical literature reinforces this myth, implying that changes are a result of increasing scientific knowledge moving medicine toward better and more accurate descriptions [...]
This study explored the benefits and harms of being diagnosed with PCOS for women in the community. We found that some women benefited greatly from a diagnosis of PCOS. For example, the diagnosis gave them an explanation for bothersome symptoms and a greater understanding of [...]
Sarah lives in London. She is pregnant with her first child. Her mother had gestational diabetes and Sarah is told this puts her into a higher risk category for the condition, thus she should have a test...
This stufy found a strong and apparently widely held desire for more information surrounding the topic of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Careful consideration of how to inform both the public and current patients about the implications of a change in terminology, including changes to patients’ follow-up [...]
The childhood chant that "sticks and stones may break my bones but names can never harm me" is full of bravado but is not always right. It rushes over the emotional and social impact often caused by naming. This impact is at the centre of [...]
Want to see a group of parents shudder? Whisper that your kid has “pinkeye.” That one little word evokes images of ocular goop cutting a swath through a pre-K class like a lion through a herd of gazelles. And as it turns out, how that [...]
Australian researchers are calling for a radical re-think of the use of the word 'cancer', in cases where people are diagnosed with low-risk conditions. A University of Sydney analysis has found that people who are told they have cancer often opt for aggressive surgeries over [...]
