Should I consider preventative removal of the appendix? Posted: 03-17-06 11:18am
I am a 30 year old female, non smoker,
quite healthy.
My question is, I have six female
relatives on my mother's side of the
family, four of whom have had
appendicitis!
My mother and aunt had appendicitis at age
9 and 7, and my sister had it aged 23.
Hers was ruptured. My niece had it at 32.
Now which such a high incidence of
appencitis in my family, including two
women when they were children, should I
consider preventive removal of the
appendix? I am worried about getting
pregnant if my genes make me predisposed
to getting appendicitis. Also, I am often
in Africa in remote areas for months at at
time, about 2-3 days away from proper
hospitals.
I cannot find recent medical opinions on
the use of preventive surgery in patients
with a family history. Any comments
welcome!
It has not been confirmed that
appendicitis is genetically conditioned.
Therefore, there is no increased risk for
you to develop appendicitis. The appendix
is a part of the immune system so I
don’t recommend you remove your appendix
“preventatively”.
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