While the conventional medical establishment calls for the removal of “broken” or “defective” body parts, a watershed study on the long-term effects of tonsillectomy and adenoid removal calls into question the propriety of this surgery, performed on nearly half-a-million children in the United States each year.
Children who had undergone tonsillectomies were found to have a nearly three-fold increase in the risk of developing certain diseases of the upper respiratory tract, including asthma, influenza, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Removal of adenoids in addition to tonsils more than quadrupled chances of developing allergies, inner-ear inflammation, and sinusitis.
Researchers postulate that these glands may form a protective barrier between invasive bacteria and viruses seeking to take hold in the sensitive and receptive tissues of the lungs and throat. The positioning of these glands may provide an important filtering function in this vital intersection where our breath collides with the detritus of the outside world. Considering the study found a sharp increase to risk factors for more than 28 diseases, do results indicate that these seemingly innocuous glands play a larger role in immune system functioning than has previously been credited?
It’s clear, according to Dr. Byers, that these findings support, at minimum, delaying tonsil and adenoid removal surgeries to allow for the complete development of a child’s immune system. It is also clear that prevailing medical wisdom needs to evolve beyond the viewpoint that our internal organs perform in isolation, and malfunctioning body parts can simply be removed without affecting the whole. “As we uncover more about the function of immune tissues and the lifelong consequences of their removal, especially during sensitive ages when the body is developing, this will hopefully help guide treatment decisions for parents and doctors.” Dr. Byers expressed. It is imperative that the medical establishment integrates new findings such as these with immediacy, so that another generation of young people don’t suffer due to rigid conformance with such misguided traditions.
http://www.greenmedinfo.com/blog/removing-childrens-tonsils-and-adenoids-increases-risk-28-diseases-study-finds
Toms Blog on Life and Livingness