Oophorectomy

Oophorectomy is the surgical removal of the ovaries of a female animal. In the case of non-human animals, this is also called spaying. It is a form of sterilization.

The removal of the ovaries together with the Fallopian tubes is called salpingo-oophorectomy. Oophorectomy and salpingo-oophorectomy are not common forms of birth control in humans; more usual is tubal ligation, in which the Fallopian tubes are blocked but the ovaries remain intact.

In humans, oophorectomy is most usually performed together with a hysterectomy - the removal of the uterus. Its use in a hysterectomy when there are no other health problems is somewhat controversial.

In animals, spaying involves an invasive removal of the ovaries, but rarely has major complications; the superstition that it causes weight gain is not based on fact. Spaying is especially important for certain animals that require the ovum to be released at a certain interval (called estrus or "heat"), such as cats and dogs. If the cell is not released during these animal's heat, it can cause severe medical problems that can be averted by spaying or partnering the animal with a male.

Oophorectomy is sometimes referred to as castration, but that term is most often used to mean the removal of a male animal's testicles.

See also


2010s

Millennia: 2nd millennium - 3rd millennium - 4th millennium

Centuries: 20th century - 21st century - 22nd century

Decades: 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s - 2010s - 2020s 2030s 2040s 2050s 2060s

Years: 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019


The Decade as a Whole

This decade will be called "teens", "twenty-teens", "tens", or "twenty-tens".

Events and Trends

The baby boomer generation which is designated as "officially" including babies born after the end of World War II in 1945 reaches the age of 65 beginning with this decade. 65 is the standard (though not universally accepted) age of retirement in the United States. A rapid expansion of the number of retired persons due to the aging Baby Boomers is expected to have a drastic effect on the economy of the United States and Europe, especially Social Security and Medicare. This expected surge in the distribution of retirement benefits has been dubbed the pension bomb.

Technology

Around this time, the Hubbert peak of global oil production dictates widespread disruptions to conventional energy supplies of oil and natural gas. Academic and business research into hydrocarbon deposits has concluded that the continued usage of this form of energy source will inevitably create widespread reductions in its supply during the 2010s, resulting in a sudden need to switch to alternative energy sources such as nuclear energy and "green" sources such as solar and wind power. Similar predictions were also made of previous decades dating back to the 1960s, and so far this problem has not emerged.




Last updated: 02-07-2005 09:01:48