A study of half a million British women has found that those women who underwent operations to remove appendix or tonsils are more likely to have baby. This revelation has thus burst a myth – that the removal of both appendix and tonsils would delay pregnancy.
Researchers said the operations could reduce inflammation of the reproductive organs caused by problems with the appendix or tonsils but insisted women should not resort to surgery to increase their chances of starting a family.
The reason favoured by the researchers is that surgery does not cause women to become more fertile but that pregnancy results from them having more sex. The women who had had their tonsils or appendix taken out also had higher rates of chlamydia and pelvic inflammations.
Sami Shimi, of the University of Dundee and senior author of the study, said: “The results have been surprising. We have found that women who have had an appendectomy or tonsillectomy, or even more particularly both, are more likely to become pregnant, and sooner than the rest of the general population.
“This scientifically challenges the myth of the effect of appendectomy on fertility. What we have to establish now is exactly why that is the case.”
His team looked at the medical records of 55,000 women who had had appendectomies, 113,000 from those who had had their tonsils removed and 10,000 from women who had had both operations, comparing them with 355,000 otherwise similar women. Over 15 years 250,000 of the women got pregnant.
They concluded that women who had an appendix removed were 34 per cent more likely to become pregnant, rising to 49 per cent in those who had tonsils out and 43 per cent more likely in those who had both operations.
Shimi added: “This research does not mean that removing a normal appendix directly increases fertility. It does, however, mean that young women who need to have their appendix removed can do so without fear of the risk on future fertility.”
Li Wei, another author of the study, said: “This research is of paramount interest because appendectomy and tonsillectomy are very common surgical operations. Although a biological cause is possible, we believe that the cause is more likely to be behavioural. We are pursuing both hypotheses.”
