EFFECTS OF SURGICAL MENOPAUSE ON PSYCHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS AND LIPID-LEVELS - THE HEALTHY WOMEN STUDY

The authors examined the effects of surgical menopause, with or withou t hormone replacement therapy (HRT), on psychosocial functioning and l ipid levels in a population-based study of initially premenopausal wom en. Within 5 years of study entry, 28 women underwent hysterectomy, wi th 9 retaining their ovaries and 19 having bilateral salpingo oophorec tomy (BSO), and with 173 premenopausal women as a comparison group. Wo men undergoing hysterectomy reported fewer stress symptoms and a more optimistic attitude at follow-up, whereas BSO cases without HRT had lo wer mean total high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and HDL2, relative to pr emenopausal women. Subject to limited power, the authors' findings sug gest that surgical menopause among middle-aged women does not lead to negative psychological outcomes but that BSO in the absence of hormone use has significant adverse effects on total HDL and HDL2.