Thousands of children have their tonsils removed around the world. Now, a study links this operation with the development of depression, post-traumatic stress and anxiety. Risks can last for more than 20 years.
Chinese and Swedish scientists analyzed data from more than a million people which appear in a Swedish health register and concluded that a tonsillectomy (surgical removal of the palatine tonsils) was associated with a 43% increase in the risk of developing the diseases as the disturbance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression or anxiety.
The authors of , published in JAMA Network Open, suggest that this relationship exists regardless of the gender of the participantsthe age at which they had their tonsils removed, any family history of stress-related disorders and their parents’ level of education, says the
Among the diseases identified, PTSD showed the greatest increase in risk: There was an increase of around 55% for people who underwent tonsillectomies early in life compared to those who did not.
“We found that although the increased risk appeared to be greatest during the first few years after surgery, there was still an increased risk of stress-related disorders. more than 20 years after surgery“, write the researchers.
There are a few possible explanations: although we can live without our tonsils, they help fight infections, so our body is more vulnerable without them.
It is also possible that, in some cases, the reason for performing tonsillectomy — such as persistent inflammation — could also be the reason for anxieties later in life.
Previous studies have linked tonsil removal to increases in other health problems, such as autoimmune diseases or even cancer.
“If our findings are to be validated in future studies of independent study populations, mechanistic studies will be needed to unravel the role of human tonsils and their diseasesthrough inflammation or other associated health conditions, in the development of psychiatric disorders in general and stress-related disorders specifically”, conclude the authors.
