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Tonsils

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The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Tonsils

 

masses of lymphadenoid tissue in the mucous membrane in the vicinity of the pharynx. Distinction is made between the lingual tonsils (on the dorsal surface of the tongue), the pharyngeal tonsils (in the vault of the pharynx), the tubal tonsils (near the opening of the auditory, or eustachian, tubes), and the palatine tonsils (between the palatoglossal and palatopharyngeal arches). Lymphocytes are produced in the tonsils, and from there they are partially discharged into the lymph stream. The tonsils play an important role in protecting the body against pathogenic microorganisms and in creating immunity.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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References in periodicals archive
Thirty percent of the children had large tonsils. And, of that group, 30% had symptoms strongly suggestive of obstructive sleep apnea, based upon parental report, a prevalence five times greater than in children without large tonsils.
He says: 'Tonsils play an important role in helping to combat infections, and we have changed things over the years so that we don't remove tonsils as often as we used to.
During their examinations of the patients, the scientists found no other mouth problems, but when they squeezed and massaged the patients' tonsils there was a foul-smelling discharge, suggesting the problem was fetid tonsils.
Too often we removed tonsils in the past, thinking the child (or adult) would never get another sore throat infection.
In this report we present the case of a 72-year-old HIV (-) woman who presented with a fast-growing swelling on the right tonsil and was diagnosed with KS following diagnostic tonsillectomy.
Tom Marshall, Professor or Public Health and Primary Care at the University of Birmingham, said: "Our research showed that most children who had their tonsils removed weren't severely enough affected to justify treatment, while on the other hand, most children who were severely enough affected with frequent sore throats did not have their tonsils removed.
The removal of the tonsils or adenoids in the throat also increased the chances of allergic conditions and infectious upper respiratory tract diseases - including asthma, cold, influenza, and pneumonia, among others - in the following years.
To obtain core culture of the tonsils in patients presenting with recurrent/ chronic tonsillitis.
'We calculated disease risks depending on whether adenoids, tonsils or both were removed in the first 9 years of life because this is when these tissues are most active in the developing immune system,' said one of the study authors, Sean Byars from University of Melbourne in Australia.
[U.S.A], Feb.1 ( ANI ): It has come to light that cancer causing virus may hide in small pockets on the surface of tonsils in throats of unsuspected people.
Inclusion criteria were the presence of sleep apnea, tonsillar hypertrophy grade [greater than or equal to] 3 (both palatine tonsils (PT) occupied 50% or more of the oropharynx width), and the adenoid (AD) occupied 70% or more of the nasopharynx at endoscopy.
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