Tonsils & Adenoids: Ears, Nose and Throat Fact or Fiction Quiz

By June 26, 2010 Sinusitis

Tonsils & Adenoids

Tonsils and adenoids filter bacteria out of what we swallow and breathe.

Fiction!

Any filter that could strain out microscopic material would not allow the passage of any food particles and would make eating impossible. Tonsils and adenoids are strategically located near the entrance to the breathing passages where they catch incoming infections. They “sample” bacteria and viruses and can become infected themselves. It is thought that they then help form antibodies to those “germs” as a part of the body’s immune system to resist and fight future infections.