Comments on: A doctor responds to Seth Roberts' guest post about tonsillectomy

By: SamSam

SamSam — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Wow, let’s totally turn this post into a bike helmet flamewar!

By: AC Missias

AC Missias — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:05:00 +0000

Ok, this guy spot-checked his inflated claims about risk. But has anybody actually found any reasons for this surgery to be recommended as often as it is? My pediatrician actually said I should have mine out “so I could eat meat” — has the reasoning improved? I’d like a doctor to answer THAT!

By: vtwahine

vtwahine — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 18:46:00 +0000

My tonsils and adenoids were removed when I was 6, and as a teenager, my dentist took a photo of my throat because he was surprised to hear they had been removed as they had grown back big time. His photos were often published in medical books, so he was not being a weirdo by taking photos. I haven’t had problems with tonsillitis as an adult, and probably a lot of my throat/ear infections as a child were at least in part related to growing up in a house with two parents who were heavy cigarette smokers.

By: LightningRose

LightningRose — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:05:00 +0000

I’m pleased to learn my skepticism with regards to the first article was well founded.

Seth Roberts now shares a place in my kill file with the rest of the woo mongers.

By: teknohed

teknohed — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:46:00 +0000

wow. I just had an intense response to the image at the top of this post. I had my tonsils taken out (along with my adnoids, which are like tonsils in your sinuses I guess.) almost 30 years ago, when I was about seven. The who process was a long series of blood tests, doctor visits and an eventual three hour drive to the hospital. Before the procedure I was given a brochure about what was going to happen to me. Not having much to read I probably leafed through that thing about 200 times. I’m shaking here looking at that thing. crazy.

By: SamSam

SamSam — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:30:00 +0000

Last year I put a lot of compost in the ground and my carrots grew much bigger than they had before. Since humans and carrots share about 50% of their DNA, this implies that there is at least a 50% chance that putting a human in compost will cause them to grow bigger.

By: timjanderson

timjanderson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 14:21:00 +0000

I have this and am considering getting my tonsils removed because it is so irritating (and gross)

By: Tomgliv

Tomgliv — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 12:08:00 +0000

My wife had throat infections each year until she eventually decided, based on doctor’s advice, on having her tonsils removed. Now she has chest infections every year at the times she used to have throat infections.

By: Jim Nelson

Jim Nelson — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:31:00 +0000

In the amateur physics community, it tends to get shortened to ‘woo’, generally in reference to the free energy / cold fusion / Tesla conspired with aliens / $GENERIC_CONSPIRACY crap that gets brought up by those with less scientific rigor.

I’ve also heard Adam Savage use it on Mythbusters.

By: Beanolini

Beanolini — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 09:01:00 +0000

rats lack the gene for this and would literally eat themselves to death.

Really? Having caught relatively svelte rats in my parents’ grain store, this seems unlikely. Any more details?

By: CH

CH — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 08:52:00 +0000

“detailing the case against tonsillectomies as a regularly prescribed treatment for sore throats”
I’m a bit… distressed… about the intro to this article. I do understand that this is in reference to the original article, but, it makes it sound like this was actually a stated fact instead of a strawman. The original article, and this one for that matter, should have first established that the premise is actually true. I have no facts myself to back up either side, but I have _never_ _ever_ heard on any parenting board I frequent that their kids would have gotten their tonsils removed due to sore throats. Quite on the contrary, many parents have had to fight their doctors to get tonsils or adenoids removed, even when their children are snoring like crazy and having sleep apnea. Actually, the only reason nowadays for removing tonsils or adenoids seems to be _very_ heavy snoring and/or sleep apnea, or difficulty with eating (anecdotal data, again). So, I would say the pendulum has swung pretty heavily to the other direction.

I had my adenoids removed in the 70′s (I was 9) for pretty light reasons. I was ill, they were swollen, so out with them. Seems like the author to the original article still lives in those days.

By: Ingo Keck

Ingo Keck — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:16:00 +0000

“In general, I’m a big fan of basing medical treatment on evidence, rather than conjecture, tradition, or mythology.”

Then I do not understand why you still propose bicycle helmets as a must have device. Evidence is that they increase the risk of serious injury and death (and this is already known since Rodgers published his paper in 1988 (see http://cyclehelmets.org/1146.html )

By: Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 07:15:00 +0000

Let’s assume it’s true that animal results tell us nothing about what will happen with humans. Can you think of another plausible explanation for this pattern of results besides zero DNA overlap?

UH… I can think of several. o_O

By: SomeGuyNamedMark

SomeGuyNamedMark — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 06:53:00 +0000

Whatever you do don’t google tonsilloliths.

By: dculberson

dculberson — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 04:11:00 +0000

ATROCIOUS APOSTROPHE.

By: Charlie McHenry

Charlie McHenry — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:58:00 +0000

In the 50′s & 60′s tonsillectomies were the treatment of choice for sore throats of any sort. Far fewer are now conducted because the procedure is simply not indicated
in many cases, as the original post noted. And all surgeries have risk. The fact that unnecessary surgeries are frequently conducted on less-than-informed patients should be well established by now. Just consider the # of hysterectomies, cholesystectomies (gall bladder removal), and prostatectomies each year against the indications and current research and it’s an impossible trend to miss. We’ve enthusiastically turned medicine into competitive business, and this is the natural and logical result. Prostatectomies, for example, are the single biggest income “pop” for Urologists. A real gold-mine. The article doesn’t even look at each medical specialty, and all have their “popular” and widely “promoted” surgical solutions. It also doesn’t factor-in the competition between specialties for the profits produced by surgical procedures. For example, interventional radiologists are now doing a lot of procedures that used to be conducted by other specialties. It’s a market-made mess of the first caliber. Let the patient beware.

By: kraken17

kraken17 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:23:00 +0000

I had the same thought. It seems to me that Seth has had his ego hurt, and is now in damage control mode.

By: blueelm

blueelm — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:22:00 +0000

You have just perfectly described the reason why I have opted not to have them removed as an adult. In my case though I had strep several times a year well into my university days leading to an occasional hospital stay, etc. A combination of distrust for doctors and financial priorities I guess convinced my mother I was better off with them in (she never had hers removed). I do actually wonder if I wouldn’t be healthier if they’d just been removed. I’d definitely take that into consideration if I had a child.

By: mtdna

mtdna — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 03:02:00 +0000

For something _really_ interesting about tonsils, check this out: tonsilloliths (tonsil stones).
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonsillolith

By: Jessica Brown

Jessica Brown — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:50:00 +0000

I was sick from yearly bouts of step throat as a child, but never had my tonsils out when I was young. I wish I had. After a series of bad throat and tonsil infections I did finally have to have them removed last year at the age of 37. Unfortunately, undergoing tonsillectomy as an adult is SO MUCH WORSE than doing it as a kid. Significantly more pain and much, much longer recovery period: the little slimy bastards apparently grow deeper into the tissue of the throat as you age requiring very extensive (*shudder*) cauterization to remove. For that reason alone, I’d be tempted to get it out of the way during childhood if my kids showed a predisposition toward frequent strep.

By: surreality

surreality — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

While I didn’t have recurrent infections as a kid, I’ve had some pretty bad ones recently, and my tonsils are also enormous. I sort of wish I could have them out, but on the other hand, maybe they are doing more good than bad. Just wanted to mention because you might not have an immune disorder. I had to start gargling alcohol-free mouthwash at least once a day to keep the suckers in line.

By: surreality

surreality — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:33:00 +0000

Gah, meant as a reply to blueelm.

By: ryuthrowsstuff

ryuthrowsstuff — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:04:00 +0000

I had always assumed it dated back early than that, maybe because quaintly old fashioned. Or maybe just because it’s so often used in discussion of the spiritualism and occult movements.

Anyway I do know it was largely popularized by James Randy and people associated with him in general.

By: Sirkowski

Sirkowski — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:55:00 +0000

THANK YOU FOR POSTING THIS!

By: blueelm

blueelm — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:50:00 +0000

I probably should have had mine out. I was sick for years with recurrent infections in my throat throughout my youth. My tonsils are HUGE and to this day I clean them every day when I clean my teeth because if I don’t those things will just grow in there. I suspect that I have a mild immune disorder though. Hashimoto’s thyroiditis would be likely since my mother, aunt, and cousin all have it. I guess what I’m saying is, yes, case to case it varies and it’s really stupid to dig your feet in on something like that because you’re trying to be ideologically skeptical instead of just looking for the best response to the issue at hand.

By: Emo Pinata

Emo Pinata — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:35:00 +0000

It sickens me that the same fallacious logic used to tout autism’s link to vaccinations is being applied in more medical arena’s.

By: dolo54

dolo54 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:33:00 +0000

I had my tonsils removed as a child and they grew back. The doctor that operated on me seemed shocked that they grew back, but maybe he was just pretending (what do I know, I was 4). I’ve heard since then that it’s not that uncommon for tonsils to regenerate.

By: Mark Dow

Mark Dow — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:29:00 +0000

I speculate that it is onomatopoeic with theramin sounds, related to the musical taste of a particular flavor of counterculture, or to suggest science fiction themes of the ’60′s. I have no evidence.

RationalWiki suggests:
“This is in turn believed to have come from the use of “woooooo!” as a reaction to dimmed lights or magic tricks.”
http://rationalwiki.org/w/index.php/Woo-woo

By: marilove

marilove — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:21:00 +0000

It’s really common in the Skeptic community.

By: Dug

Dug — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 01:19:00 +0000

Where did you get the term ‘Woo-woo’?

I’ve heard Brian Cox use it (Wikitionary and skepdic.com list it too), but the rest of the internet says its Sex on the Beach without orange*.

I love the term, but where did it originate?

* sounds like the best way to have it to me.