Removal of ovaries during hysterectomy linked to increase in heart disease, cancer and premature death.

A study led by the University of Warwick and published in the BMJ has found a link between the removal of ovaries during hysterectomy and an increase in heart disease, cancer and premature death. More than 113,000 hysterectomy cases were studied and the ovaries were removed in about a third of these. The study covered a ten year period where it compared women who were treated for a benign disease who had both ovaries removed with those who had one or none removed.The work looked at 113,679 cases of women aged 35-45 during the period April 2004 to March 2014. A third of the patients studied had both ovaries removed. The study showed that women who had one or no ovaries removed were less likely to develop ischaemic heart disease ,a coronary artery disease or cancer after hysterectomy than those who had both ovaries removed. The researchers also found that fewer women who retained one or both ovaries compared to those who had both removed died within the duration of the study -- 0.6% compared to 1.01%.