Hang onto your ovaries!!

No, really. Hang onto your ovaries, if you can. Turns out that whole line that OB/GYNs feed women about their post-menopausal ovaries being shriveled up like raisins, and just hangin' around waiting to get cancerous is WRONG. Shocking, I know, but now we have the science to prove it. A study in May 2009 issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology titled "Ovarian Conservation at the Time of Hysterectomy and Long-term Health Outcomes in the Nurses Health Study" showed that women who had their ovaries removed had a higher risk of death from any cause, primarily heart disease and lung cancer. Furthermore, removing the ovaries at any age did not improve the life span.

My two moms have both had their ovaries removed. I say this with a heaviness in my heart, because I love and adore both of these women, and want nothing to stand in the way of a long and healthy life for both of them, and many, many years of their company. One mom had a hysterectomy for prolapse, and it could safely have been partial and her ovaries spared, had they not been cancer sprouting raisins. The other mom had really bad adhesions that were all over her ovaries, so who knows? But so it seems to go with our cavalier hacking up of our bodies. A little vaginal-bypass here, a little nip and tuck there, a little hysterectomy, and hey while we're at it let's just...I fully support womens, indeed all humans, rights to do what they will with their bodies(see suture post). But the verdict is still out on so much, and the level of informed consent so minimal, that it seems prudent to avoid it if you can. So, please, hang onto your ovaries!!!