OSTEOPOROSIS: HAVE YOUR OVARIES BEEN REMOVED?
In some surgical cases, it is essential to remove ovaries because they are either diseased or damaged, but unfortunately some physicians routinely recommend healthy ovaries be taken out at the time of hysterectomy if a woman is approaching natural menopause anyway. They reason that such surgery would prevent possible ovarian cancer at a later date – a cancer which is often fatal because it is difficult to diagnose early. But removal of ovaries before natural menopause involves abrupt loss of oestrogens and a 50 per cent risk of the rapid onset of osteoporosis if hormone replacement therapy is not prescribed.
Christopher E. Cann, Ph.D. of the University of California at San Francisco, recently conducted a three-year study of forty-seven women (white-, yellow-, and brown-skinned), aged between twenty-four and forty-eight who had undergone oophorectomies (removal of ovaries). His report revealed that they lost spinal mineral content at an alarming average rate of 9 per cent the first year after the operation. Two women had lost more than 20 per cent!
There are several kinds of hysterectomies and it is important to know the differences:
Partial hysterectomy means the removal of the uterus and cervix. Subtotal hysterectomy is the removal of the uterus but not the cervix.
Hysterectomy and unilateral salpingo oophorectomy is the removal of one tube and one ovary.
Radical hysterectomy is the removal of tubes, ovaries, uterus, cervix and pelvic lymph nodes.
When a woman undergoes a partial hysterectomy or has only one ovary removed, her levels of hormones are usually unchanged. But a total or radical hysterectomy involving the extraction of both ovaries can cause a sudden cessation of hormone production with consequent severe menopausal symptoms, especially if the operation is performed when the woman is young or several years before natural menopause would have occurred.
In 1981, 63,620 women in England and Wales underwent hysterectomy, and over 650,000 women in the United States had the surgery in the same year. Various surveys in the US have revealed that between 20 to 40 per cent are performed unnecessarily or for doubtful reasons. In some cases, it is used as a method of birth control, or as a way to correct menstrual irregularity, but this is a major operation, and simpler alternatives are often available. It is important to get a second opinion if your physician suggests a hysterectomy, to ensure that the surgery is essential; and it is crucial to know if both ovaries will be removed, as this will effect a surgical menopause, change your hormone level, and may trigger a rapid loss of bone mass. If ovaries are healthy, there are compelling reasons for leaving them intact – know your condition as thoroughly as possible before the operation.
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