title: Association of bilateral oophorectomy and body fatness in a representative sample of US women.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Preclinical studies suggest that abrupt hormone deprivation caused by oophorectomy, leads to obesity and its metabolic sequelae. The purpose of the current study was to examine the association between oophorectomy and body fatness in a nationally representative sample of women.
  
  
  METHODS
  The association between prior oophorectomy and nine adiposity measures was examined using data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994). The analytic population included cancer-free women age 40 or older (N=3549) who underwent standardized body measurements and reported on whether or not they had a bilateral oophorectomy. Multivariate linear and polytomous logistic regressions were used to evaluate the association of oophorectomy with multiple measures of adiposity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean percent body fat, skinfold thickness, waist circumference and body mass index were significantly higher in women with oophorectomy before age 40 compared to those with intact ovaries, but no difference was observed in women with oophorectomy at an older age. Women who underwent an early oophorectomy were nearly three times more likely than women with intact ovaries to have percent body fat in the highest tertile compared to the lowest tertile (OR=2.82, 95% CI 1.39-5.75). Excluding hormone therapy (HT) users yielded stronger associations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Bilateral oophorectomy in young women is strongly associated with an increase in percent body fat, a well-established risk factor for cancer and other chronic diseases. Measuring body fat in addition to BMI may provide a more comprehensive assessment of adiposity in these women.
authors: Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.
authors: Anne Marie
authors: AM
authors: McCarthy
authors: Andy
authors: A
authors: Menke
authors: Kala
authors: K
authors: Visvanathan
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D050154:Adiposity; D000328:Adult; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009749:Nutrition Surveys; D010052:Ovariectomy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012885:Skinfold Thickness; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055105:Waist Circumference