Aaron Hartman, MDFunctional Medicine Specialist | Clinical Researcher

70% of Women With PCOS Are Missed — And Told to Just Lose Weight #shorts

12 Aug 2026 · 2 min

Watch on YouTube

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In this YouTube short, Dr. Aaron Hartman highlights that roughly 70% of women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are undiagnosed and are often advised merely to lose weight. He notes that about 40% of these women face a heightened risk of diabetes and a more than seven‑fold increased chance of heart disease, yet less than half receive this information. Hartman explains that PCOS is a hormonal disorder that falls under the broader umbrella of metabolic syndrome, which also includes gout, kidney stones, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, and high triglycerides. He emphasizes that metabolic syndrome is a cluster of interrelated conditions, so the presence of one should prompt screening for the others. PCOS is identified as the leading cause of infertility in the United States, and women frequently endure years of consultations with multiple doctors before receiving an accurate diagnosis. While the conventional healthcare system often overlooks PCOS and can gas‑light patients, functional medicine seeks to address root causes such as gut toxins and environmental chemicals, and mentions low‑dose naltrexone as a potential treatment. Hartman urges viewers—especially young women who have experienced missed diagnoses or successful alternative treatments—to share their stories, stressing the importance of self‑education, trusting one’s intuition, and community support.

Chapters

70% of women are missed with this diagnosis and told you just need to lose weight. Think about that for a second. About 40% of these women have a risk for developing diabetes and over a 7-time higher chance of getting heart disease. But that less than half are told this. What illness, what mystery thing am I talking about? I'm talking about polycystic ovarian syndrome. This is a hormonal disruption, the part of metabolic syndrome, which diabetes is a part of heart disease, but so is gout, so is kidney stones, so is sleep apnea, so is actually high cholesterol, high triglycerides, so are kidney stones. The point is metabolic syndrome is not just a single thing like diabetes. It's a whole group of things that if you see one, you have to look for the rest of them. And polycystic ovarian syndrome is one of these things. The issue is it's the leading cause of infertility as well in our country. And women can take years and years to get an accurate diagnosis and see 3+ up to 8 doctors. In the functional medicine world, we see this all the time. We get to the root cause, look at gut toxins, chemicals. But in our current healthcare system, women are overlooked and it's a blind spot currently in our healthcare system and women get gaslit. Point being is you have to take charge of your health. You have to get educated and learn about your body and trust your gut, trust your intuition. You can learn a lot from your own knowledge about yourself. And there's actually now science showing that actually your gut, trusting your intuition, actually has science behind it. So, point being, trust yourself. I also would like to hear if you're a young lady who's had this diagnosis that's been overlooked, or if you've actually tried something like low-dose naltrexone or something else and had a great response with it. I'd love to hear about that as well. Sharing these stories can actually help others as well as educate our community as well. So, take care. I'd love to hear from you. Give me your insights below.