🪴 A New Name for PCOS, HBCU Health Equity Program, & Mental Health for Brown Gyals

Hey crew! Welcome back to Thrivency’s weekly newsletter 👋🏽

I have to start off this week with a quick favor. It’s officially been six months of sending out this newsletter every first through fourth Thursday, focusing on the same schedule of themes each month. Whew, it’s been a journey but so worth it!

Now, I need to hear from you…

Thanks in advance for your feedback! It genuinely helps me keep making this worthwhile for both of us. Now let’s get into this edition of Wellness News You Can Use. 🗞

Check out a quick word from this week’s sponsor before you dive in ⤵️

Markets move. Headlines catastrophize. Inside the noise is the story that matters — the opportunity, not the fear. The Daily Upside: global business and finance, reported without the alarm.

Read for Free Now

📛 A New Name for PCOS

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), the condition affecting 1 in 8 women, is entering a new era. Going forward, this diagnosis will now be called Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome, or PMOS for short.

If you’re unfamiliar, PMOS can come with a laundry list of symptoms: fatigue, acne, insulin resistance, unexplained weight gain and so much more. It’s only recently reached a significant level of general awareness, and Black women in particular face higher rates and more severe long-term outcomes like diabetes and heart disease.

So why the name change? Through multiple years of medical research and patient surveys, the American Society of Reproductive Medicine declared that the previous name focused too narrowly on the ovaries, pigeon-holing the condition into gynecology.

Taking a more holistic approach, the name PMOS acknowledges that this is a whole-body hormonal or endocrine disorder. The ASRM said “Women with the condition were the biggest drivers of the name change.” 👏🏽

🏫 HBCU Health Equity Program

Remember just a few weeks ago when we shared that WellWithAll, a Black-owned health and wellness brand, was awarding a $1M grant to an AI-powered health equity solution? I discovered another way that they’re using capital to uplift and empower under-funded communities. 💰

In May, the WellWithAll HBCU Pour Back Series awarded $100K to Tougaloo College in Jackson, Mississippi to expand mental health services for students. To sweeten the investment, their May graduates received a limited-edition Tougaloo College energy drink.

Learn more about the program and how you can nominate your HBCU to receive the next round of funding:

🧠 Mental Health for Brown Gyals

For all of the negative impacts that the internet can have on mental health, I think we can all agree on one thing: It’s an incredibly powerful tool to connect you to very specific resources and niche communities. And when you see a gap in what exists in the wellness space, it gives you the power to create something new.

That’s what Ashley Abdul realized 4 years ago when she decided to found Brown Gyal Diary. She was strongly connected to her Indo-Caribbean heritage, but felt that women like her lacked the representation, resources, and spaces to discuss what mental health challenges look like within the context of their culture.

See how Brown Gyal Diary built a 14,000 person platform and continues to champion mental health resources for the Caribbean community:

📲 Check your DMs

Stop your scroll and check out these social media posts I found that are pushing the wellness conversation forward:

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Wellness News You Can Use, and PLEASE make sure to take the survey at the top before you close out! See you next week with a new edition of the Local Event Lineup.

Thrivency quick links: