Even though ovarian cysts after the menopause are less common, instances do crop up and may cause difficulties. Post-menopausal women with an ovarian cyst that is not suitable for conservative management may have to have an oophorectomy. This operation is done to take out the ovary within a bag so as not to have the cyst break open in the peritoneal cavity.
Post-menopausal women are recommended to take a sonographical CA125 test using transvaginal grayscale. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and Doppler scans are not as good for the detection of post-menopausal cysts. Transvaginal ultrasound is the best way to understand the situation of ovarian cysts because it gives enhanced detail and more sensitivity. Larger cysts nevertheless should be examined transabdominally.
After menopause, ovarian cysts are contracted by about 17 percent of women. No optimal management solution for cysts exists. Many cysts will be reabsorbed by themselves without major difficulty. Malignancy and ovarian cysts do not appear to have much correlation, but ovarian cancer is showing a disturbing rise in older women. Survival is statistically unlikely, if the cancer spreads beyond the ovary. To be completely sure it is necessary to do a full laparotomy and staging procedure, even though it is well to be suspicious of the possible malignancy of all ovarian cysts in women after the menopause.
From a sample of 226 women recent research on post-menopausal ovarian cysts suggests that ovarian cysts that are smaller than 50mm in diameter are benign and can be treated with safe management involving regular monitoring of the cyst size and the CA 125 levels.
There are two main questions concerning ovarian cysts for women after menopause: what is the best management; and where the treatment should take place. A gynecologist generalist should be able to manage low-risk cases, but intermediate-risk cases should be referred to a cancer unit and those women who represent high-risk cases should go to a cancer center.
Management changes should be revised accordingly when used with an index to determine malignancy risk. Measurement of CA 125 which is used in more than four out of every five studies is a typical test here. Usually a cutoff of 30 u/ml is used with test specificity of 75 percent and sensitivity of 81 percent. Using ultrasound has demonstrated 73 percent specificity and 89 percent sensitivity. To usefully evaluate ovarian cysts, Doppler sonography with color flow has also proven its worth. It is less effective in the evaluation of a tumor as benign or malignant to examine the cytological fluid from an ovarian cyst. In this case the sensitivity is only around 25 percent and the danger is greater that the cyst will break open.
The recommendation for women after the menopause when laparoscopic management of ovarian cysts is done is frequently not for cystectomy but in fact for oophorectomy. Trying to use ovarian cyst fluid for a cytological assessment is a common error when trying to evaluate system malignancy. The accuracy factor is only 25 percent with an increased risk of cyst rupture. The higher risk malignancy index indicates all ovarian cysts suspected of malignancy in post-menopausal women.
If laparoscopy indicates suspicious clinical evidence, then a full laparotomy and subsequent staging procedures are to be employed. A certified surgeon within a cancer center team that is multidisciplinary is required. For this reason, it may be said that aspiration does not have a role to play after menopause for asymptomatic ovarian cysts management. Notwithstanding, it might still form a part of the pre-surgical management together with laparoscopy and laparotomy.
The incision under extension of the midline should include the cytology in the form of ascite washings, laparotomy that is well documented, and biopsies from adhesion and areas that are suspect. It should also include infra-colic omentectomy as well as BSO and TAH. In the case of a malignant cyst, this may have grave repercussions on the probability of survival of the patient.
Post-menopausal ovarian cysts in common with many other chronic health ailments have no simple cause. For this reason, classical medicine that only focuses on a specific symptom will not be successful in remedying ovarian cysts. Several factors will in fact trigger the formation of an ovarian cyst. Some of these factors are directly responsible for ovarian cysts forming, and others act indirectly to play a secondary part to worsen existing cysts. Although classical medicine may be of use in handling a primary cause, these indirect factors will stay around and be the root of further complications.
A holistic program is the only way to free yourself from a complaint of post-menopausal ovarian cysts. Because multiple factors are at the root of ovarian cysts, the treatment needs to integrate multiple dimensions. This is the only way for getting to the real, underlying problems and removing cysts forever.
Physiological ovarian cysts
All women of child bearing age who are not on pills have certain cystic structures in their ovaries, which continuously come and go. Such structures are essential for the development and subsequent release of the egg. They are referred to as "physiological" as they constitute a part of the general function of the ovaries.
A maturing egg is carried to the surface of the ovary during the earlier half of a normal 28 days cycle. It is carried there by a cystic structure known as "follicle". This follicle carries out the dual task of not only getting the egg transported but also of manufacturing estrogen. The hormone that stimulates uterine lining growth is known as estrogen. The start of intrauterine helps the implantation of the fertilized egg and the growth of the embryo.
During ovulation, the follicle is the size of an olive. The egg is released when the follicle gets ruptured. The fluid of the follicle which, till then, had been clear, is replaced with blood which accompanies the rupturing process. Progesterone begins to be secreted after this and a substance, which is yellow colored, is formed during this time.
If the woman doesn`t get pregnant at this time, the yellow substance becomes somewhat scarred and the cystic structure thus formed is called "corpus luteum". The structures are generally small in size, but this process, at times, tends to carry on longer than necessary. The physiologic structures get filled with follicular fluid or blood and get enlarged to the size of say, a tiny plum. Such cysts may or may not turn out to be painful. But the primary side-effect that accompanies these cysts is that the menstrual cycle becomes irregular. It is quite a possibility that the cysts will leak or that they will twist the ovary resulting in the patient experiencing pain or severe tenderness. And, if an ultrasound shows that there is an enlarged cyst, there will have to be a surgery carried out.
Pathological Ovarian Cysts
Cystic structures, developed in the ovary, but which are not parts of the ovulation cycle are termed as "pathological ovarian cysts". They are also called "tumors". Such tumors can be basically divided into two categories: those which are malignant or cancerous or those which are benign. There are various kinds of pathological ovarian cysts. There are those which are made up of mucous and those which are made up of old blood.
It is not uncommon to find cysts such as these in women who are young and who happen to bear tissues of a wide array in a disordered manner. Such tissues can be found in fat, teeth, bone, thyroid gland and hair. Pathological cysts have a problem and that is that there is no scope of any regression in these types of structures. The fluid can accumulate at a tremendous rate. And, as fluid forms the principal and really only component of the cyst, it can grow very rapidly. It could enlarge in a couple of weeks or maybe months.
Reasons behind ovarian cysts
If you look at ovarian cysts through ultrasound, you will immediately realize that they resemble bubbles. As we said earlier, fluid forms virtually the only component of a cyst, and it is surrounded by a slim wall. A cyst such as this is known as a "Simple Cyst" or "Functional Cyst". If however, it is the follicle which has failed to rupture and release the egg, the fluid remains and it is likely that it will form a cyst in the ovary. Because of this, one of the two ovaries gets affected. It happens sometimes that tiny cysts may be present in a normal ovary while the follicles are being formed.
Adverse Effects
Women can get affected by ovarian cysts at any age, and doctors have pronounced these cysts to be either physiologic or functional. This basically means that such cysts are not carriers of diseases and most of them are benign that is to say they are not cancerous. Also, many of these disappear by themselves within the space of a few weeks.
Cysts appear in women who are of child bearing age and they fall into the categories of cancerous growths or non-cancerous. It is strange that while ovarian cancer has shown the presence in it of cysts, ovarian cysts themselves represent a normal process or a harmless condition. Ovarian cysts can be of various types and include Corpus Luteum cysts, Dermoid cysts, Follicular cysts, Hemorrhagic cysts and many others.
Holistic Approach
A large number of medicinal methods are being used nowadays to try to cure ovarian cysts but none of these are able to guarantee full success. The only way that a woman can rise above ovarian cysts is through the holistic approach. And it has the added advantage of having no side effects and being wholly trustworthy.
The holistic approach believes in the saying "Forewarned is Forearmed" and tries to eradicate ovarian cysts by its very roots. The holistic approach tries to create fitness on the mental, spiritual as well as the physical level. So it basically persuades you to face ovarian cysts with courage and not to run away from it.
Mary Parker has sinced written about articles on various topics from Disease & illness, Health and Cyst. Mary Parker is an author of the best-selling e-book, "Ovarian Cysts No More- The Secrets Of Curing Ovarian Cysts Holistically". To Learn More About Her Unique 3-Step Holistic Ovarian Cysts Cure System Visit:. Mary Parker's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.