ADENOIDS AND TONSILS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20703, 29 April 1929, Page 13

ADENOIDS AND TONSILS.

MEDICAL INQUIRE. {From Our Own Correspondent.) .LONDON, March 19. The General Purposes Committee of the London County Council include in their report to the council a selection, of the more interesting conclusions reached by the Medical Committee on Adenoids and Enlarged, Tonsils. ■ ■ The committee was appointed in 1924 by Sir G. Newman (chief medical officer of, the Board of Education) “ to inquire into the incidence of, and physical and environmental conditions associated with enlarged tonsils and adenoids, and into the methods and results of treatment^ 5 It was set up because the condition is present in greater or less degree in about 10 per cent, of school children and its effects are liable to prove detrimental both to the health and education of the child. • the conclusions reached are the following:— The evidence suggests that the etiological problem is similar in some respects to that of dental disease, in that both conditions affect all classes of society without any conspicuous difference in incidence; that there is a definite tendency for certain families to be affected; and that the cause in a considerable number of cases .obviously begins to act in ante-natal or early postnatal life. The frequent association of these two conditions suggests either that the one affects the other, br that there is a common cause, or both. The ante-natal and early post-natal history of these cases indicates that they start life with a slight but perceptible handicap. Prematurity, artificial feeding, defects of environment, are slightly but consistently commoner than among normal children. The apparent association of _ enlarged tonsils and . adenoids with . rickets suggests the possibility that a deficiency of the calcifying vitamin D may play some part in the etiology of this condition. This is s, matter which deserves careful investigation. It seems desirable to emphasise the fact that- adenoids may occur as early as the first year of life, that they seldom develop after the eighth year, and in the majority of cases arc already established by_ the fifth .year. A definite lelationship appears to exist, between dental disease and the presence of enlarged tonsils and adenoids, but the nature of this relationship has not so far been established. It is conceivable either that the presence of septic teeth is a factor in the production of tonsils and adenoids, or that the mouth-breath-ing of adenoids predisposes' to . dental decay, or that both conditions have a common origin. Educational retardation is a fairly common result of adenoids, especially in the higher age groups. . . , Whether intelligence as measured by the usual tests is actually lower than normal does not seem to have been determined. The committee have decided to make further investigations.