WOMEN'S HEALTH
CONTENTS
1. Ovaries are Crucial for Health & Longevity
2. Women's Health - everybody should read this
Ovaries are Crucial for Health & Longevity
For Harvard Medical School, Harvard Health Publishing, Maureen Salamon, Executive Editor, Harvard Women's Health Watch, reported, “Women who have both ovaries removed before menopause face far higher odds of several chronic health conditions decades later, according to a study published online Sept. 12, 2023 by [medical journal] Menopause.” The study involved 274 women (average age 67) whose ovaries were removed before menopause for a noncancerous condition. An average of 22 years after surgery, the women underwent comprehensive physical exams. Compared to women of the same age who still had their ovaries, women who were under age 46 when their ovaries were removed were 64% more likely to have arthritis, twice as likely to have obstructive sleep apnea, and nearly three times as likely to have had a bone fracture. They performed worse on a 6-minute walk test. Women who had their ovaries removed between ages 46 to 49 also had higher odds of arthritis and sleep apnea than same-age women who didn't have the surgery.
Women's Health - everybody should read this
The US is the best in the world in medical science and in developing cutting-edge technology in the field of medicine. The US spends more on healthcare than any other country in the world, MUCH more. The health of Americans is not the best in the world. The US ranks approximately #37 in health compared to the health of people in other countries.
The Lown Institute is a nonpartisan think tank, in Massachusetts, advocating bold ideas for a just and caring system for health. It says, “In a health system that works, patients receive all the care they need and none that they do not . . . But the industrialization of health care has disrupted the healing relationship between clinicians and patients. Profits have been prioritized over healing. Too often, our system not only fails to heal, but creates new suffering.”
Some of the issues they address are over treatment; patient harm from unnecessary care; the epidemic of medication overload among older Americans. They present the annual Shkreli Awards, a top-ten list of the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in health care. They have been mentioned in Boston Globe, Guardian, Kaiser Health News, and other publications. They have been on NBC, NPR, etc.
Every year, approx. 500,000 women in the US get hysterectomies. Most have the procedure for benign conditions such as fibroids or endometriosis. Over the years I heard from and read about women complaining or upset that when they had their hysterectomy the surgeon also removed their healthy ovaries. Or their doctor urged them to get their ovaries removed because they “no longer need them” after having produced children. An article in the Boston Globe, “1 in 3 doctors still needlessly removing ovaries,” is from a decade ago: A Baystate Medical Center study found “one-third of gynecologists continue to recommend removal of healthy ovaries from women undergoing hysterectomies who haven't yet entered menopause.” American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists advises against ovary removal in pre-menopausal women undergoing hysterectomies who are not at increased risk of ovarian cancer, because heart and bone protective benefits of functioning ovaries through menopause outweigh smaller risks of ovarian cancer.
A more recent article posted (2019) by the Lown Institute shows it's still happening. The article is science-based and fact-based and contains some eye-opening information. Here is some of it. A woman had a “fairly large ovarian mass.” Her gynecologist expressed concern about malignancy and rushed her to surgery. Cyst and ovary were sent to pathology during surgery while operating room staff waited for results which came back benign. After being told it was benign, her doctor removed uterus, fallopian tubes, and the other ovary when “all that needed to be removed was the mass/complex cyst.” Why do that when there was no medical reason? Is getting paid more for removing more organs a reason? According to Medicare, for a total hysterectomy, in which the surgeon removes uterus, ovaries, and fallopian tubes, the total cost is $10,030 in a hospital outpatient surgery. Medicare covers $8,287; patient pays $1,742.
She said, “The effects were immediate and severe,” She was hit by the full force of menopause. When women go through natural menopause they have ovaries which continue to have some beneficial function that may gradually taper. When ovaries are surgically removed, menopause is immediate. She said, “I could barely function despite using estrogen.” She said, “I have connected with hundreds of women over the last 13 years with similar experiences. Unfortunately, the unnecessary removal of female organs is alarmingly common as are the many adverse effects.” To read the full article, which you may find eye-opening, if not shocking, use the link below.
https://lowninstitute.org/guest-post-the-madness-of-unnecessary-hysterectomy-has-to-stop/
No comments:
Post a Comment