Ooforectomia e risco de diabetes

Objectives

Diabetes mellitus is among the main causes of death in postmenopausal women. Bilateral oophorectomy, commonly offered together with hysterectomy, promotes, in addition to the abrupt interruption of estrogen production, the reduction of the androgens that would continue to be produced by the ovary in natural menopause. Such hormonal changes can have their own repercussions, making the oophorectomized patient more susceptible to numerous chronic diseases, among them diabetes. The objective of this study is to review the available literature about the risk of diabetes attributable to oophorectomy.

Methods

A literature review was performed, searching in the Pubmed data bank about the risk of diabetes mellitus related to oophorectomy, natural menopause and orchiectomy.

Result

Diabetes is strongly associated with oophorectomy in most studies. Related to natural menopause, the majority showed an increase in conditional or independent risk. Androgens appear to offer a protective role in insulin resistance.

Conclusion

In spite of the need for more studies to reach definitive conclusions related to the association between oophorectomy and risk of diabetes, current evidence points to an increased risk of diabetes in oophorectomized women.