A few terms, explained.
Every issue of The PCOS Brief explains the research terms it uses in plain English. This page collects them all in one place, with a link to the issue where each one appeared. It grows with every issue.
Affective response
A research term for how exercise makes you feel, measured on a scale from "very bad" (−5) to "very good" (+5). It matters because studies consistently show that how much you enjoy exercise predicts whether you'll still be doing it six months from now. In this study, women rated their sessions between "fairly good" (+1) and "good" (+3) throughout.
From: Aerobic exercise, quality of life, and PCOS →ALT (alanine transaminase)
A liver enzyme that shows up in blood tests. Elevated levels can signal fatty liver disease, which is more common in women with PCOS. In this study, later sleep timing was correlated with higher ALT, which is one more reason your bedtime may matter more than you think.
From: Sleep timing, weight-neutral counseling, and emerging PCOS in adolescents →Antiandrogen
Anything that reduces the effect of androgens (male hormones like testosterone) in your body. Some antiandrogens block androgens from reaching tissues; others lower the amount circulating in your blood. Spearmint appears to do the latter.
From: Does spearmint tea lower testosterone in PCOS? What a 30-day randomized trial found →BMI Z-score
A way of expressing how a person's BMI compares to others of the same age and sex. Because children and teens are still growing, a raw BMI number doesn't tell you much; the Z-score adjusts for that. A dropping Z-score over time means the person's weight trajectory is improving relative to their growth.
From: Sleep timing, weight-neutral counseling, and emerging PCOS in adolescents →Ferriman-Gallwey score
A clinical scoring system that rates hair growth in nine body areas on a 0–4 scale. It's the standard way researchers objectively measure hirsutism so they can compare results across studies. In this trial, the spearmint group's scores went from 17 to 16, which wasn't a statistically significant change.
From: Does spearmint tea lower testosterone in PCOS? What a 30-day randomized trial found →Free Androgen Index (FAI)
The ratio of total testosterone to SHBG, used to estimate how much biologically active testosterone is circulating. It's a more sensitive marker than total testosterone alone. In this study, FAI decreased in the omega-3 group but not significantly.
From: Omega-3 supplementation, testosterone, and menstrual regularity in PCOS →Free testosterone vs. total testosterone
Total testosterone is the full amount in your blood. But not all of it is active; much of it is bound to proteins and essentially neutralized. Free testosterone is the portion that's unbound and biologically active, the part actually driving symptoms like acne and excess hair growth. This study reduced both.
From: Does spearmint tea lower testosterone in PCOS? What a 30-day randomized trial found →Health-related quality of life (HRQL)
A standardized way of measuring how a health condition affects your daily life across physical, emotional, and social dimensions. This study used the SF-36 questionnaire, which covers eight domains. The exercise group improved in physical functioning, general health, and mental health.
From: Aerobic exercise, quality of life, and PCOS →LH and FSH
Luteinizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormone, two reproductive hormones produced by the pituitary gland. In PCOS, the ratio of LH to FSH is often elevated. In this study, both rose in the spearmint group, which is consistent with reduced androgen suppression and a shift toward a more balanced hormonal picture.
From: Does spearmint tea lower testosterone in PCOS? What a 30-day randomized trial found →Rotterdam criteria
The international standard for diagnosing PCOS. A woman meets the criteria if she has two of the following three: irregular ovulation, signs of excess androgens (clinical or biochemical), and polycystic ovaries on ultrasound. All participants in this study met these criteria.
From: Yoga vs. conventional exercise for anxiety in PCOS →SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin)
A protein that binds to testosterone in your bloodstream, essentially neutralizing it. The more SHBG you have, the less free, active testosterone is available to drive symptoms. Women with PCOS often have low SHBG. In this study, SHBG didn't move, which the researchers attribute to the short study duration and the underlying role of insulin resistance.
From: Omega-3 supplementation, testosterone, and menstrual regularity in PCOS →Sleep midpoint
The clock time halfway between when you fall asleep and when you wake up. It's a simple way to capture your chronotype, and in this study it turned out to be a stronger predictor of metabolic health than sleep duration alone.
From: Sleep timing, weight-neutral counseling, and emerging PCOS in adolescents →Social jetlag
The mismatch between your body's internal clock and your social schedule. If you sleep at midnight and wake at 6 AM on weekdays but sleep at 2 AM and wake at 10 AM on weekends, your sleep midpoint shifts by two hours. Your body then experiences something similar to flying across time zones every week.
From: Sleep timing, weight-neutral counseling, and emerging PCOS in adolescents →STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory)
A widely used, well-validated questionnaire that measures both state and trait anxiety separately. It's one of the most common tools researchers use to study anxiety, which makes results easier to compare across studies.
From: Yoga vs. conventional exercise for anxiety in PCOS →State anxiety
The in-the-moment kind of anxiety: how tense, nervous, or on-edge you feel right now. It rises and falls depending on what's happening around you. In this study, yoga reduced it more than exercise, but the difference wasn't statistically significant.
From: Yoga vs. conventional exercise for anxiety in PCOS →Testosterone
The primary androgen (male hormone) that's also present in women in smaller amounts. In PCOS, testosterone is often elevated, which drives many of the most distressing symptoms: excess hair growth, acne, hair thinning, mood changes. In this study, omega-3 reduced testosterone significantly.
From: Omega-3 supplementation, testosterone, and menstrual regularity in PCOS →Trait anxiety
The stable, background kind of anxiety: your general tendency to feel anxious across situations, regardless of what's happening in the moment. It's more a part of your baseline temperament, which makes it harder to shift. This is where yoga significantly outperformed conventional exercise.
From: Yoga vs. conventional exercise for anxiety in PCOS →VO2peak (cardiorespiratory fitness)
A measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise. It's the gold standard for measuring cardiovascular fitness. Women with PCOS tend to have below-average levels. In this study, the exercise group improved theirs by 21%.
From: Aerobic exercise, quality of life, and PCOS →