Taking tonsils out risks heart attack????

[Guest guest]

I have a 21 year old grandson with IgA and whose kidneys are

operating at 37%. His mother asked his doctor about going ahead and

removing his tonsils but the doctor told her there would be too much

of a risk of a heart attack with removing his tonsils. I have not

read anything about this as a risk, is it true and why?

[Guest guest]

Hi Jim,

I've never heard of anyone removing tonsils prior to transplant. We've had

a lot of transplants here in the past year and I don't remember anyone

getting their tonsils removed as part of a pre-transplant workup.

If my memory serves, several people here did get their tonsil removed ... or

maybe contemplated getting them removed in an effort to bring their disease

under control. I don't remember anyone pointing to tonsil removal, however,

and saying " that did the trick " . I hope one of these folks can weigh in

here, because tonsil removal is not an area where I have any expertise. By

way of comparison, there are many people here who complain about

prednisone --- and yet are very glad for the miracles that it worked.

Perhaps a second opinion might help.

The standard treatment of IgAN depends upon the patient and how symptomatic

they are. Generally, if proteinuria is very severe, some kind of

immunosuppressant is used (prednisone, cellcept, immuran, cyclosporin).

Other patients have used cytoxin.

Cy

Taking tonsils out risks heart attack????

> >

> >

> > > I have a 21 year old grandson with IgA and whose kidneys are

> > > operating at 37%. His mother asked his doctor about going ahead

> and

> > > removing his tonsils but the doctor told her there would be too

> much

> > > of a risk of a heart attack with removing his tonsils. I have not

> > > read anything about this as a risk, is it true and why?

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > >

> > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group

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> > >

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> supported

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> > >

> > > Thank you

> > >

[Guest guest]

Thanks

It has been awhile since I went to the med journals researching IgA

and putting together several papers discussing removal of tonsils

prior to transplants. The research was mixed, some showed less

percentage of recurring IgA after transplant and some studies showed

no difference. Still since none of the studies showed any harm being

coming from the removal of the tonsils, and some studies showing

better results it seems there is nothing to lose by removable of

tonsils. Also the questions arose about why not remove the tonsils

of a patient as soon as IgA is discovered since the tonsils are a

source of that antibody.

The mixed results of the tonsil research is very much like the mix

results of research of using Fish oil and Vit. E. Again no research

showed there was harm by the use of fish oil and vit. E so why not

use them as part of the treatment?

> > > Jim,

> > > I'm sorry to hear about your grandson. Is there some reason

other

> > than IgAN

> > > that would contribute to the risk of a heart attack? I've

never

> > heard of

> > > anyone reaching such a conclusion based on IgAN alone. Was the

> > mom thinking

> > > of tonsil removal as a way of treating the IgAN? I have not

read

> > anything

> > > in the literature that shows a benefit in removing tonsils to

> > treat IgAN -

> > > although the idea does get kicked around periodically. I think

> > (not sure

> > > here!) that the theory is if the patient is getting sick a lot,

> > they are

> > > repeatedly generating immune responses that might injure the

> > kidneys.

> > > Hopefully someone else can provide more help than I.

> > > Cy

> > > Taking tonsils out risks heart attack????

> > >

> > >

> > > > I have a 21 year old grandson with IgA and whose kidneys are

> > > > operating at 37%. His mother asked his doctor about going

ahead

> > and

> > > > removing his tonsils but the doctor told her there would be

too

> > much

> > > > of a risk of a heart attack with removing his tonsils. I

have not

> > > > read anything about this as a risk, is it true and why?

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > >

> > > > To edit your settings for the group, go to our Yahoo Group

> > > > home page:

> > > > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/iga-nephropathy/

> > > >

> > > > To unsubcribe via email,

> > > > iga-nephropathy-unsubscribe

> > > > Visit our companion website at www.igan.ca. The site is

entirely

> > supported

> > > by donations. If you would like to help, go to:

> > > > http://www.igan.ca/id62.htm

> > > >

> > > > Thank you

> > > >

[Guest guest]

Here's a doctor's website that lists the risks. Heart attack is in that

list. I don't know how a tonsillectomy contributes to a heart attack

exactly, but it probably has to do with just the risks of anasthesia and

surgery in general for adults. Anyway, it's worth reading...

http://www.doctorhoffman.com/talett1.htm

Pierre

Re: Taking tonsils out risks heart attack????

> Oh, back to the point of my posting...my grandson's doctor doesn't

> want to remove the tonsils because it may cause a heart attack but

> no explanation was given as to why. The only other conditions are

> high blood pressure, which is being treated, and high Cholesterol

> (263), and he has started lipitor, could that be the reason not to

> remove the tonsils?

>

> Thanks

>

> Jim

>