The Tonsils and the Adenoids

The tonsils are two small lymph glands that sit like little sentries at the back of the throat. They're part of our immune system, working to protect us from infection and disease.

Because of their location, the tonsils often come in contact with bacteria and may become enlarged and inflamed and exhibit whitish material as the body fights infection. The painful condition, called tonsilitis is common in childhood. One authorit advises parents: "Don't panic if they (the tonsils) become red and enlarged." Tonsilitis is often accompanied by upper respiratory viruses, with mild fever, cough, congestion, and runny nose; or strep bacteria, where along with fever of about 100.5 the breath may smell foul and the neck lymph nodes may feel swollen. Like the tonsils, the adenoids are lymph glands and they fight the same good fight of defending us from sickness. They're in out throat too, but, unlike the tonsils, are out of view.

Tonsillectomy

"For decades tonsillectomies were the bread-and-butter surgery of surgeons and pediatricians," says Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. "During the 1930s doctors were doing between 1.5 million and 2 million tonsillectomies a year...despite the fact that their removal could rarely be justified on legitimate medical grounds.

Indications

"The only absolute indications for tonsillectomy or for removal of the adenoids are malignancy or airway obstruction because the tonsils are so swollen that it becomes virtually impossible for your child to breathe. Yet for many decades doctors performed(tonsillectomies) routinely, defending this irrational behavior with the unproven contention that failure to remove infected tonsils would subject the child to possible hearing loss or, at the very least, lead to recurrent sore throats.

"Be on your guard if your child's doctor tries to persuade you that infection in (the) tonsils is an indication for their removal, for that is rarely the case.

Other Opinions

Mendelsohn is not alone in his observations: "More than 90% of all tonsillectomies performed in the United States are technically unnecessary, yet 20 to 30% of all children still undergo the operation. One in a thousand dies...and 16 in a thousand suffer from serious complications. All lose valuable immunity mechanisms.

"All are subjected to emotional aggression; they are incarcerated ina hospital, seperated from their parents and introduced to the unjustified and more often than not pompous cruelty of the medical establishment."

Fewer Sore Throats?

One large study investigated the relationship between tonsillectomies and sore throat. Although there was a reduction in strep throat during the first two years after surgery, there was no such reduction by the third year.

If the tonsils are removed a child's first line of defense against infection is gone, and the defense is transferred to they lymph nodes in his/her neck. The body's immunologic competence is thus reduced, and there may be an increased risk that the child will become a victim of Hodgkin's disease.

Increased Risk of Polio

Numerous studies have indicated that tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy may serve as provoking factors for paralytic poliomyelitis. "It has been shown that attack rates...are 10 times higher among the recently tonsillectomized as compared with the same age groups in the general population."

Sore Throat

Sore throat(pharyngitis) is extremely common throughout the childhood years. "Most sore throats occur because of minor viral infections...and they usually clear up in a day or two if the child is given plenty of fluids."

According to Robert Mendelsohn, M.D. "First you should be aware that sore throats most of the time, are caused by viruses for which Modern Medicine has no cure.

"Second, you should know that taking a culture to determine the presence of 'strep' is a waste of your money and the doctor's time. It will not prove beyond doubt that your child has, or does not have, a strep infection.

"A third source of sore throats is three diseases that, when they are present, are a legitimate cause for parental concern...infectious mononucleosis diphtheria(virtually disappeared) and leukemia(relatively uncommon).

Strep Throat

Parents are often made very anxious that their child's sore throat may be a 'strep' (streptococcus) infection because medical authorities state that such an infection can cause rheumatic fever. Again we quote Dr. Mendelsohn: "The chances that your child will experience rheumatic fever, even (with) strep infection, are extremely remote. During a quarter of a century in pediatrics...I saw only one case of rheumatic fever. In real life the threat of rheumatic does not exist in most populations. The disease is rarely seen except among malnourished children living in the crowded conditions associated with desperate poverty. Without treatment, strep will surrender to antibodies produced in the bloodstream and usually disappears in less than a week; antibiotics merely hasten the process a bit...

"...but they will also increase the chances that your child will experience a succession of sore throats all winter long."

The Chiropractic Approach

A child's natural immunity to disease is the main factor in whether he or she will get sick. For example, an average of 20% of perfectly healthy school-children carry strep bacteria in their throats all winter long but do not develop the disease because of their natural immunity. Chiropractic spinal care keeps the body free from spinal nerve stress interference, thus helping it to maintain a high level of natural immunity against disease an infection. Tonsilitis has been linked to an unhealthy spinal column-for example, a 1976 study of 76 children with chronic tonsilitis in which "the most striking and constant clinical finding was movement restriction at the craniocervical junction, in the great majority between occiput and atlas(70 cases or 92%)."

Infants and Spinal Stress

In a study of 1,250 babies who were examined five days after birth, the author found that 211 who suffered from health problems which included tonsilitis, vomiting, hyperactivity, and sleepiness, spinal nerve stress" causes many clinical features from central motor impairment to lower resistance to infections-especially ear, nose and throat infections."