Keeping Ovaries, Keeping Bones
Again, I'm on the kick to keep ovaries as healthy as possible and in the body as long as possible. Of course there has been a change with the medical colleges no longer recommending oophorectomy to pre-menopausal women over 45 (though a great number of doctors still remove healthy ovaries in women with no ovarian cancer risk factors by habit). But many doctors still remove ovaries in post-menopausal women during abdominal surgery because they think that if ovaries aren't putting out eggs, they're of no use and possibly a threat.
First, there's osteoporosis. Yes, pre-menopausal ovaries keep women's bones strong. But the post-menopausal ovary still puts out estrogen, and for many women that's enough to keep them strong enough as they age.
Look at this:
Over 1 million people break their hip every year in the United States alone, the vast majority of those are post-menopausal women.
50% of those people will never regain their independence - they will end up in hospitals and rest homes.
25% of those women who have a hip fracture will not survive the year, usually because the loss of mobility allows other pre-existing conditions to take greater hold of their lives. Lack of exercise and mobility means bad nutrition, lower immmunity (pneumonia being a big killer after hip fractures), depression, heart disease, strokes and additional falls.
If you're still in your 20s or 30s, you're still in your prime bone-building years. Good nutrition and weight bearing exercise will serve you well as you age. If you're over 40, it's not too late, you can still keep the bones you have with the same regimen of healthy living. Avoid sodas and smoking, as both are shown to leach minerals from the bone or keep you from absorbing minerals from the foods you eat, respectively.
Last, if you're having a hysterectomy for any reason other than cancer and have no documented cancer risk factors (first generation relatives, a positive matching on the BRCA1/BRCA2 markers, preexisting cancer) or an estrogen fed disease (endometriosis), it's important to evaluate the full effect of removing healthy ovaries. As I've posted here before, while the estrogen and progesterone levels drop as we go through menopause, the androgen levels don't. Though estrogen gets a lot of credit for helping us maintain our bone density, androgens such as testosterone may help us keep our muscle mass. Keeping muscle can be just as important to mobility as we age as bones.
Other articles and resources where this information was gleaned - Bone Health, Planning Now, Prophylactic Oophorectomy (Mayo Clinic, be sure to read down to the bottom about the risks)
Posted by Elizabeth M. on July 31, 2005 10:18 AM
