can untreated exual infection cause heart disease?

[muyisco]

can tontsilitis cause heart disease?


This discussion is related to INFLAMMATION OF CHEST CARTILAGE?.

[ed34]

I will never know then, I had my tonsils removed when I was 12. I used to get tonsillitis a lot and my throat would virtually close up. I suppose it was better to remove them rather than keep me on antibiotics for life. I have never had a sore throat since they were removed but this obviously means bacteria has a free passage into me.

[kenkeith]

Good question: can tontsilitis cause heart disease?

All forms of tonsillitis clear up without treatment. It usually takes a few days for bacterial or normal viral tonsillitis to clear, but it can take weeks if mononucleosis is the cause. Because of possible complications associated with bacterial tonsillitis, doctors usually give antibiotics.

One complication of bacterial infection, rheumatic fever, used to be common until doctors started treating bacterial tonsillitis with antibiotics. Group A streptococcus can spread through the body and infects vital organs, especially the heart. This can cause permanent damage, resulting in heart disease years later. It's now extremely rare in Canada (a couple of cases a year), though it is still a major problem in some countries.