Appendicitis

APPENDICITIS
Appendicitis, the acute inflammation of the appendix, tends to strike younger people, aged 10 to 30. It commonly occurs on holidays or special occasions following a large meal. It is the most common cause of abdominal surgery in the U.S. A ruptured appendix is potentially life-threatening.

• Operations Higher Among Meat Eaters - In a study comparing the rates of appendectomies among 11,000 vegetarians and nonvegetarians, British researchers reported that the percentage who had this procedure was higher among lifelong meat eaters (10. .7 percent). In contrast, lifelong vegetarians had a 7.8 percent appendectomy rate, while those who had stopped eating meat had 8 percent. “The results suggest that people who do not eat meat have a 50 percent lower risk of requiring an emergency appendectomy than those who do,” the scientists concluded.
Source: P. Appleby et al., “Emergency Appendectomy and Meat Consumption in the U.K.,” Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 49(6):594-606, 1995.

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