APPENDICITIS.

Hawera Star, Volume XLV, 8 December 1925, Page 2

APPENDICITIS.

GROWTH OF THE MENACE, STRESS OE MODERN LIFE. Off all diseases necessitating the use of. the surgeon's knife, none has been more common in recent years than appendicitis, says a writer in the London Weekly Dispatch. In one London suburban golf club six out of seven people (who sat down to lunch at the same table had had their appendices removed; and :n a city office where two men and three women work there is, as on© of them expressed it, not one appendix between them. One startling fact hitherto unknown to the layman is that appendicitis is not always the result of an obstruction in the appendix. It is more often caused by the stress and worry of modern life, resulting in the disorganisation of the digestive apparatus through irregular habits, inadequate mastication, and nervous strain.

In these cases, which are far more common than the obstmotional variety, the appendix becomes chronically inflamed and peritonitis ran only be avoided iby an immediate operation. Although appendicitis is not regarded by most people, as a very dangerous complaint—especially a few years ago, when it was even, “fashionable” —the medical profession does not regard it with such equanimity.

TWO THOUSAND DEATHS A YEAR. Statistics show that between two and three thousand people in this country die of it every year. In almost every fatal case the surgeon’s aid has been called in too late.

Although there lias been little fluctuation in the appendicitis death rate in Britain from year to year, the fact that the last decade has shown a slight increase, 2826 deaths in 1923, against 2529 in 1913—instead of a decrease, suggests that the time is not far distant when the universal removal of the appendix will be advocated by the medical profession. Those who are about to take long journeys in wild lands, where surgical aid is unobtainable, .are already advised to undergo' the operation, and a great number of travellers have acted on the advice.

One reason why the removal oi : the appendix in healthy persons is not generally recommended by the medical profession is the risk of death. Even under the most favourable conditions a surgeon could not guarantee that his patient would recover. But Avherea.si the chances of death in the ease of those undergoing an. operation for appendicitis are three in a hundred, the chances of death in the case of a healthy person having a healthy appendix removed is only .5 per cent. BANGEROIJiSLY RAPID. It will be realised, therefore, that to pant with one’s appendix when it is in a normal condition is a far less dangerous thing to do than to wait until it is diseased. In .any case, the risk of death when crossing a crowded street in London is ias great, perhaps greater than .5 per cent. It may, of course, be argued that the proportibn of people likely to have appendicitis is small. It is true also_ that, in the majority of cases, the disease only affects people /between the ages of 10 and 25. But thef real danger is that the disease is iso rapid in development that only those who live in big cities, where surgeons may be summoned in an hour, can afford to take( risks. Although we are not actually better in health without an appendix, there is no doubt that we do not suffer from its loss. Useless as it is, ho-wever, it remains a menace to everyone, a vulnerable spot where disease may lurlc and which, insignificant and unimportant though it is to healthy persons, often proves fatal to those who suffer from the commonest- of modem complaints—indigestion. SURGEONS’ OPINIONS. Surgeons are divided at present on the question of the universal removal of the appendix. Those who favour it point out that the number of fatalities resulting from the operation on healthy persons could nob possibly approach the number caused by operations for appendicitis. On the other hand, those who hold the opposite A'iew argue that by the law of a\ r erage, some must die as the result' of an unnecessary operation, and that that might be regarded in the light of manslaughter. To sum up, it semes that, while the argument for the removal of the healthy appendix is logical, the argument against it is purely sentimental. And .sentiment is a quality Avhioh is more common in the profession of surgery than most people imagine.