[/caption]Concerns about cancer cause many young women to have their ovaries removed before age 45. Researchers at John Hopkins Hospital have now found those who do risk bone thinning and arthritis later in life.
Several thousand women participated in a study where the link between ovary removal, known as oophorectomy, bone thinning and arthritis was determined.
“This is one of the largest national studies, to my knowledge, that highlights the difference in bone-mineral density in women who have their ovaries removed at a young age. Our results suggest that such women should be monitored closely for osteoporosis,” Kala Visvanathan, M.D., M.H.S., associate professor of oncology and epidemiology in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Kimmel Cancer Center, tells us. The results of the study will be presented at the 2011 CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held Dec. 6-10.
More than half a million women undergo a hysterectomy annually. About half of these women have both ovaries removed. Conditions requiring the procedure, commonly performed in middle-aged women, include fibroids, endometriosis, or uterine prolapsed, or cysts. Complications are various, and many of these are related to the fact women lose the protective estrogen that helps slow aging and age-related diseases. Over the past twenty years, researchers have found estrogen loss linked to increased risks of parkinsonism, dementia, arthritis, and osteoporosis.
Despite this recent finding, experts have also said major complications from a hysterectomy are uncommon. However, minor problems occur, resulting in women taking hormone replacement therapy, a practice that has been questioned as well due to the link found between the therapy and cancer. Minor complications include treatable urinary tract infections, mild pain and some vaginal bleeding following the operation. Major complications, in addition to those previously mentioned and that occur more immediately after surgery, include infection and blood clots.
