Straight from the department of “We didn’t see that one coming”, new research suggests that removing ovaries before menopause may lead to memory and movement problems.

Researchers found that women who had one or both ovaries removed before menopause were nearly two times more likely to develop cognitive problems or dementia compared to women who did not have the surgery. In addition, those women who were younger when their ovaries were removed were more likely to develop dementia than women who were older when their ovaries were removed.

“It’s possible that estrogen has a protective effect on the brain and that a lack of estrogen due to ovary removal may increase a woman’s risk of developing memory problems,” said study author Walter A. Rocca, MD, MPH, with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, and member of the American Academy of Neurology.