Effects of estrogen deficiency in women castrated when young.

In earlier studies on the effects of castration, most of the women had been operated on late in the reproductive period of life. In the present material all the 142 women had been oophorectomized between the ages of 15 and 30 years because of advanced salpingitis. Not only the tubes but also the ovaries had been radically removed. The series was analyzed in respect of causes of death, survival, morbidity, osteoporosis and hormonal state. Complete oophorectomy was found to be followed by (i) a significant increase in the frequency of coronary heart diseases; (ii) an increase in serum cholesterol and triglyceride levels, most significantly in those aged below 60-65 years; (iii) an increase incidence of fractures; (iv) in increased frequency of nervous disorders of psychological rather than endocrinological origin.