International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The practice of removing the ovaries during hysterectomies - bilateral oophorectomy - may not be beneficial, in spite of the fact that it is common practice.

This is according to research published in The Journal of Minimally Invasive Gynecology and conducted by scientists at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Saint John's Health Center in Santa Monica, California.

Such procedures are performed around 300,000 times every year in the US, on 55 per cent of all women undergoing hysterectomies, but Dr William Parker believes that ovary removal at this time is not usually necessary.

"Observational studies suggest that bilateral oophorectomy may do more harm than good," he said, as this type of treatment results in decline in ovarian estrogens, deficiencies of which have been linked to increased risks of hip fractures and coronary artery disease.

Meanwhile, younger women were recently advised to continue going for cervical cancer screenings, regardless of whether they have received the HPV vaccine or not.

Tony Kerridge of Marie Stopes International noted that some appear to believe that this women's health treatment means they do not need to be tested.

Posted by Alexandra George