Premenopausal oophorectomy and the risk for dementia

Evaluation of: Rocca WA, Bower JH, Maraganore DM et al.: Increased risk of cognitive impairment or dementia in women who underwent oophorectomy before menopause. Neurology 69(11), 1074-1083 (2007). This study examines the incidence of dementia in a population of women who underwent unilateral or bilateral oophorectomy before menopause. Patients were drawn from the Mayo Clinic database and included women who had surgical removal of either one or both ovaries during a preceding 40-year period (1950-1987), as well as a reference group of women who did not undergo oophorectomy. Women who agreed to participate in the study were interviewed by phone and received a modified Telephone Interview for Cognition or a brief dementia questionnaire answered by a proxy if the subject was deceased or incapacitated. Women who had unilateral oophorectomy had a greater incidence of dementia as compared with surgical controls. In women with bilateral oophorectomies, the risk for dementia was increased in women who were younger at the time of surgery as well as in women who discontinued estrogen therapy before 50 years of age.