HWN Suggests

Is Prophylactic Ovary Removal Right for You?

Although prophylactic ovary removal can significantly reduce the risk of developing ovarian cancer — and also reduce the risk of breast cancer when done before menopause — this surgery is a serious choice that can have a considerable impact on your life. The sudden loss of estrogen can cause a range of side effects, such as hot flashes, depression, difficulty sleeping, and lessened sex drive. Estrogen loss may affect bone and heart health. Ovary removal also takes away your ability to have children.

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Featured

 Oophorectomy: the debate between ovarian conservation and elective oophorectomy

Ovarian cancer remains the fifth deadliest cancer among women due to its early asymptomatic nature and lack of efficacious screening methods leading to frequent late-stage diagnosis. Elective oophorectomy (EO) is an option for women undergoing benign hysterectomy as a means of reducing their ovarian cancer risk. Benefits also include reduced risk of repeat surgery due to adnexal masses and reduced anxiety related to perceived risk of ovarian and breast cancer. The potential negative side effects of EO, such as decreased cognition and sexual function and increased risk of osteoporosis and cardiac mortality, offer support for ovarian conservation.

Articles of Interest

Angelina Jolie Reveals She Had Ovaries Removed in Second Preventive Surgery

Jolie writes that she "had been planning this [second surgery] for some time", after a test revealed that she carried the mutation in the BRCA1 gene—which leads to an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer—and based on her family history with ovarian and breast cancer (Jolie lost her mother, aunt, and grandmother to cancer). She stresses, though, that a "positive BRCA test does not mean a leap to surgery."

Effect of Bilateral Oophorectomy on Women's Long-Term Health

Bilateral oophorectomy at the time of hysterectomy for benign disease is commonly practiced in order to prevent the subsequent development of ovarian cancer or other ovarian pathology that might require additional surgery. At present, bilateral oophorectomy is performed in 78% of women aged between 45 and 64 years having a hysterectomy, and a total of approximately 300,000 prophylactic oophorectomies are performed in the USA every year. Estrogen deficiency resulting from pre- and post-menopausal oophorectomies has been associated with higher risks of coronary heart disease, stroke, hip fracture, Parkinsonism, dementia, cognitive impairment, depression and anxiety in many studies.

Prophylactic Oophorectomy

Prophylactic surgery, involving bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy, is a viable consideration in carefully selected patients at unequivocally high genetic risk for ovarian cancer. However, many issues remain unresolved...

Prophylactic Oophorectomy: Preventing Cancer By Surgically Removing Your Ovaries

Find out what to consider and what to ask your doctor when deciding whether to undergo surgery to prevent ovarian and breast cancers.

Removing organs “just in case”—is prophylactic removal of the ovaries a good thing?

Is prophylactic oophorectomy a public or community health issue? The answer is yes. In many countries of the world, women are undergoing an untested technology each year, with potentially serious consequences. Women on average live for 30 years after the menopause (either natural or surgical) in the UK, and large numbers of women are affected by the common conditions whose incidence and prevalence are changed by hysterectomy and oophorectomy. Viewed in terms of loss of quality adjusted life years (QALYs), even a small change in quality of life for a large number of women will translate into a lot of QALYs over a period of 30 years. Undoubtedly this is a public health issue. We need to start taking this aspect of women's health in the peri‐menopause and post‐menopause far more seriously.

Study: Removing ovaries before age 50 may increase the risk of chronic conditions for some women

Removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes prevents ovarian cancer, but it may come with other health risks. Experts recommend removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes in women at high risk for ovarian cancer due to inherited mutations in BRCA or other genes linked to ovarian cancer risk. For these high-risk women the benefit of ovarian cancer prevention outweighs the risk of long-term complications.

Resources

5 Things You Need To Know About Having Your Ovaries Removed

For some, it's done to minimize risk of ovarian cancer. For others, there's something already wrong with the ovaries, like cysts, pain, or even an emergency situation that involves twisting (you do not want to Google it; we promise). But no matter why you get the surgery, one thing's certain: Menopause comes on immediately, with all its bells and whistles, because the ovaries are the hormone hub of the reproductive system.