Raise your hand if you or someone you know has had their tonsils removed. If your hand is sky-high, there’s a pretty good chance that you (or that person you know) are from the US and were born before 1980. Of course, maybe that’s not the case, but tonsillectomies certainly fit in the category of 20th-century fads, along with Tamagotchis and the Atkins diet. While the procedure is still widely performed today (and for very good reasons), the frequency of tonsillectomies has dropped drastically from mid-20th century rates. In this episode, we explore why tonsillectomies became so popular, when they fell out of favor, and what about tonsils makes them worthy of removal. Tune in to be horrified by ancient tonsil removal techniques, shocked at how long it takes new knowledge to change policies, and appreciative of just how cool tonsils actually are.
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Ep 45 Hepatitis C: Hepatiti?
Ep 44 Pertussis: Whoop Here It Is
Ep 43 M-m-m-my Coronaviruses
Ep 42 Dandy Dengue Fever
Ep 41 Ricin: A Bad Seed
Ep 40 Dancing Plague: Worst Dance Party Ever
Ep 39 Toxoplasmosis: Calling All Cats
Ep 38 Lead Poisoning: Heavy Metal Episode
Ep 37 E. coli (unless it's beets)
Ep 36 Shades of Syphilis
Ep 35 Lyme Disease: I'd like to check you for ticks
Ep 34 Cystic Fibrosis: Complete Somatic Rebellion
Ep 33 Chytrid: The Silent Forest
Ep 32 Ask the Erins
Ep 31 Giardia: Gerardia
Ep 30 Encephalitis Lethargica: Sleep Perchance to Dream (& Dream & Dream)
Ep 29 Aspirin the Wonder Drug: Crossover w/ IDOP
Ep 28 H. pylori: Don't try this at home
Ep 27 Vaccines Part 2: Have you thanked your immune system lately?
Ep 26 Vaccines part 1: Let's hear it for Maurice
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