"Why have I never heard of PCOS?" Many women ask this question when they are diagnosed, or are asked it when they try and explain to someone what's been making them feel under the weather. It is amazing that a condition estimated by the medical profession to affect up to one in 10 women can be so unheard of.

The main problem for women with PCOS, aside from the ill-health, is that their condition is so little known or talked about that it leaves them feeling isolated and powerless. Few women know about PCOS until they are diagnosed with it. Everyone who has felt their chest go suddenly tight and wheezy might wonder whether they have developed asthma; most women who feel a burning sensation when they pee would suspect that perhaps they have cystitis. But many women who have any number of symptoms associated with PCOS might not be able to guess at it nor ask their doctor to rule it out, because it's still a hush-hush condition.

It might seem surprising to have to look back as far as the 1930s, but a brief dip into history can tell us a lot. In the 1930s – when PCOS was first "discovered" and named by two doctors called Stein and Leventhal – only women who were very overweight, had no periods at all and also showed a lot of facial or body hair were classed as having PCOS. Very little research was carried out for the following 60 years, so many women dealing with the day-to-day problems that PCOS can bring – in whatever shape, form or severity – would not have been classified as having the condition.

Even now, the three symptoms mentioned above – overweight, no periods at all and an overgrowth of facial or body hair – are considered to be the "classic" signs of PCOS that health care practitioners look out for. Yet there is a whole menu of symptoms associated with PCOS, including the three mentioned above but also covering such experiences as fatigue, acne, joint pain, hair loss (alopecia), tender breasts, bloating, mood swings, difficulty in conceiving and depression. A woman with PCOS could display any single one or any combination of these symptoms, which can make it very difficult to diagnose.

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