I just read about a fascinating study that found that people who have their tonsils or their appendix removed before they turn 20 are at increased risk of having a heart attack later.  The researchers looked at the medical records of every Swedish person born between 1955 and 1970 and found that those who had their tonsils taken out as children were at a 44% increased risk and those who’d had their appendixes (appendices?) removed were at 33% greater risk. But those who’d undergone the same procedures after the age of 20 were at no more likely to have a heart attack than those who’d held on to these organs.

The reason for the connection is unclear, but a statement from the European Society of Cardiology explained:

In explaining the results the authors also implicate some ‘complex’ long-term effect of the immune system, noting that the appendix and tonsils are secondary lymphoid organs whose removal can affect several aspects of immune activity, including decreased production of immunoglobulins. They also note that atherosclerosis, the underlying pathophysiology of AMI, is widely considered to be an inflammatory process.”

So it health news we can use?  In a word, no.  If you had one of these procedures decades ago there’s clearly nothing you can do about it, and it was probably medically necessary anyway.  Also, you shouldn’t worry about a tonsillectomy or appendectomy from your past, because the increased heart risk revealed by the study is pretty low in real-life terms.

But this study is a great reminder that all the different parts of our bodies are connected in ways that even the smartest doctors still don’t understand, and that something you do to one part of your body can reverberate through the entire system and have unexpected effects on your health. 

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