Twice The Risk of Earlier Menopause With Hysterectomy In Younger Women

Hysterectomy is a common treatment for many conditions, including fibroids and excessive bleeding but younger women need to be made aware that this is a potential risk of the surgery that can have long-term health consequences.

Many obstetricians and gynaecologists have long linked the two events, as even the most careful hysterectomy can leave a woman with non-functioning ovaries within a few years, if they are left at all.

What’s the evidence?

A study by Duke University researchers in the USA was the largest analysis to track over time the actual hormonal impact of woman who had hysterectomies and compare them to women who had not.

The study involved nearly 900 women ages 30 to 47 at two hospitals and was followed up with blood tests and questionnaires for five years.   Half the women (the control group) had no surgery, while the remainder women underwent hysterectomies that spared at least one ovary.

Preserving the ovaries while removing the uterus is a strategy designed to a

Read more from Bioidentical Hormone Health by Ann A Rushton, about Twice The Risk of Earlier Menopause With Hysterectomy In Younger Women