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]

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]

Thanks for writing back. No I do not know of any other condition

that he has that would have the doctor feel there would be a risk of

heart attack from a tonsil removal operation. Yes she asked the

doctor about the tonsil removal based on medical research showing

tonsil removal did help as well as the medical practice that when a

patient needs a transplant they remove the tonsils so as to lessen

the amount of the IGA so why not remove the tonsils as soon as IGA

is the condition? Yes I have read it is a practice that is not

accepted by all medical doctors but then there doesn't seem to be a

standard practice of treatment for IGA anyway.

> 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]

Jim,

I have never heard of removing tonsils before a transplant. My son did

not have his tonsils removed before (or after) his transplant, and I

don't recall any of the other folks on this listserv who have had

transplants mentioning getting their tonsils out. If your grandson has

chronic strep infections, then removing the tonsils will be definitely

beneficial (that was the case with my other son), but I wouldn't count

on it having a long-term effect on the IgAN. As others have mentioned,

no surgery is without risk, and perhaps his doctor was being

conservative and just informing your daughter and grandson of possible

negative outcomes.

Betsy

> Thanks for writing back. No I do not know of any other condition

> that he has that would have the doctor feel there would be a risk of

> heart attack from a tonsil removal operation. Yes she asked the

> doctor about the tonsil removal based on medical research showing

> tonsil removal did help as well as the medical practice that when a

> patient needs a transplant they remove the tonsils so as to lessen

> the amount of the IGA so why not remove the tonsils as soon as IGA

> is the condition? Yes I have read it is a practice that is not

> accepted by all medical doctors but then there doesn't seem to be a

> standard practice of treatment for IGA anyway.

[Guest guest]

Jim,

I have never heard of removing tonsils before a transplant. My son did

not have his tonsils removed before (or after) his transplant, and I

don't recall any of the other folks on this listserv who have had

transplants mentioning getting their tonsils out. If your grandson has

chronic strep infections, then removing the tonsils will be definitely

beneficial (that was the case with my other son), but I wouldn't count

on it having a long-term effect on the IgAN. As others have mentioned,

no surgery is without risk, and perhaps his doctor was being

conservative and just informing your daughter and grandson of possible

negative outcomes.

Betsy

> Thanks for writing back. No I do not know of any other condition

> that he has that would have the doctor feel there would be a risk of

> heart attack from a tonsil removal operation. Yes she asked the

> doctor about the tonsil removal based on medical research showing

> tonsil removal did help as well as the medical practice that when a

> patient needs a transplant they remove the tonsils so as to lessen

> the amount of the IGA so why not remove the tonsils as soon as IGA

> is the condition? Yes I have read it is a practice that is not

> accepted by all medical doctors but then there doesn't seem to be a

> standard practice of treatment for IGA anyway.

[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

> > > 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]

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

> > > 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]

Hi Jim,

Perhaps it is his high blood pressure that is causing concern. I guess the

only way to know for certain is for your grandson to ask his Nephrologist. It

seems no one on this board has heard of this.

In a message dated 6/4/2004 2:45:25 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

jim.bassett@... writes:

> 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

>

[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]

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

> > > 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

>