By Dr Douglass
I hope you didn’t rush to get your tonsils plucked out at the first sign of trouble. Turns out you might need ‘em after all.
Docs have assumed that tonsils are more trouble than they’re worth — a source of everything from minor infections to bad breath. Plus, they can make easy money removing them.
But ironically, those “useless” disease-prone tonsils might actually play a key role in — you guessed it — fighting disease.
Isn’t it funny how it always seems to work out that way?
In this case, researchers have found that the tonsils can manufacture the T-cells your body needs to prevent or fight cancer and autoimmune diseases.
Until now, docs have assumed that all those T-cells are made in the thymus, an immune system organ that sits in your chest. But according to the research published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, T-cells in five different stages of development were found in the tonsils.
The researchers couldn’t actually figure out what those tonsil T-cells are used for — but the fact that the tonsils even make them at all is food for thought.
They could be called to use by the body to fight off cancers and other infections, or they could be a “back up plant” for T-cell production if the primary site, the thymus, is ever harmed or simply can’t make enough on its own.
All I can say for now is, don’t have your tonsils removed.
P.S. This is a banner month for “useless” organs. Another new study finds you might need your appendix, too. Researchers say the organ might actually be a “safe house” for beneficial gut bacteria, allowing your body to replenish itself in the event of a major infection.
So unless it’s about to burst like an overripe watermelon, leave it in.
I am convinced that we need all our organs, whether it is our tonsils, our appendix, or both our kidneys.
ReplyDeleteAll this reveals that "mainstream medicine" doesn't actually understand anywhere near as much about the human body as its practitioners think they do (And their shocking record on nutrition is a case in point).