UPPSALA, SWEDEN, September 12 -- New data shows that women who have hysterectomies after menopause have a four-times greater heart attack rate than those who keep their uteruses. A study led by Dr. Margareta Falkeborn, of the Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences/Geriatrics at Sweden's University of Uppsala, found no increase in heart attack risk in premenopausal women who underwent hysterectomy unless both ovaries were removed as well.
Dr. Falkeborn's study included 17,126 women who had undergone a hysterectomy and oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries) from 1965 to 1983. The postmenopausal women generally required hysterectomy for fibroid tumors (non-cancerous growths).
