Three important women in my life have had hysterectomies, so this article from yesterday’s Los Angeles Times made me sit up and take notice. From the article:
For the last 35 years, most doctors have been routinely advising women undergoing hysterectomy to have their ovaries removed to prevent ovarian cancer,’ said lead author Dr. William H. Parker, who is on the adjunct faculty at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at St. John’s Health Center in Santa Monica. ‘We believe that such an automatic recommendation is no longer warranted.’
The study described in the article notes that among patients who opted for ovary removal, “the risk of heart disease and stroke for women under 50 nearly doubled, and risk of death overall before age 50 rose by 40%.”
