Removing your ovaries may be bad for your heart
Thousands of hysterectomies are carried out every year. Most of them are done in middle-aged women. Conventional wisdom has always dictated that the ovaries be removed at the same time to remove the risk of ovarian cancer. That is until now.
Recent findings about ovaries and hysterectomies
Research has shown that women who have their ovaries taken out during a hysterectomy are more likely to develop heart disease and to die from it, and more likely to develop lung cancer. On the other hand, they have virtually no risk of developing ovarian cancer and a lower risk of getting breast cancer.
What does this mean for you?
Over 400,000 women every year die of heart disease and stroke combined in the US. This compares with about 14,000 women who die from ovarian cancer each year. While ovarian cancer is a horrible disease, women are actually more at risk of developing heart disease in their lifetime.
What many doctors are starting to recommend is that, if hysterectomy is carried out for any problem apart from cancer and if you are not at high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer, that the ovaries be left behind. This means that the hormones that the ovary produces even after menopause can continue to have a beneficial effect on conditions like heart disease, osteoporosis and dementia.
As with any other decision you take about your health, discuss all you options with your doctor.