Tonsillitis is becoming more common in adults, possibly due to fewer tonsil removals in childhood. Symptoms include sore throat, difficulty swallowing, fever, and swollen glands. However, adults are less likely to develop tonsillitis due to their natural immunity to common infections.
Tonsillitis is much less common in adults than in children, but the condition does occur in adults and is becoming much more common. Some doctors say that the increase in tonsillitis in adults is because more adults still have intact tonsils. In the past, a person was much more likely to remove them in childhood. However, adults have often developed a significant level of immunity to common infections. As such, they are less likely to develop tonsillitis than children.
Tonsillitis is a condition that develops when the oval-shaped tissue, called tonsils, in the back of a person’s throat becomes inflamed. The condition causes a sore throat, difficulty swallowing, fever, and swollen glands. Often, a person with this condition also has whitish or yellowish patches forming on their tonsils. Swallowing may become difficult and bad breath may also develop. A person with tonsillitis may also develop stomach pain, a stiff neck, or a headache along with the condition.
The vast majority of people who get tonsillitis are children and people in their early to mid-teens. Adults, however, can still be vulnerable to the condition. It’s hard to say how common tonsillitis is in adults, but doctors report that cases of the disease are on the rise. It’s hard to say why that is, but scientists have a theory. Many say tonsillitis in adults is more likely now because tonsil removal in childhood is less frequent. This makes sense, as an adult without tonsils is at no risk of contracting the infection.
Prior to the 1980s, many people had their tonsils routinely removed when they developed tonsillitis as children. However, medical opinion on this procedure eventually changed. By the mid-1980s, doctors no longer thought that tonsil removal should be a routine procedure. Therefore, most people today enter adulthood with their tonsils still intact. Their presence alone results in more cases of tonsillitis in adults.
Despite the fact that doctors have found an increase in cases of tonsillitis in adults, it is still less likely to develop in adults than in children. This may be because adults have often developed a natural immunity to a number of diseases, precisely by virtue of living for a significant length of time. As such, they are less likely to get infections that lead to tonsillitis.
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