Appendicitis in childhood could prevent back pain later

SUFFERING from childhood appendicitis may protect people from suffering crippling back problems in later life.

Many joint and back conditions – including most forms of arthritis – are caused by the immune system over-reacting to a bug or virus and attacking the joints.

Experts think appendicitis, which exposes the body to a severe bacterial infection, effectively primes the body’s immune system early in life, meaning it does not over-react years later.

Scientists yesterday revealed the results of a major study linking childhood appendicitis to lower rates of a severe back condition called ankylosing spondylitis.

This incurable condition, a form of arthritis which causes severe inflammation in the joints of the spine, is thought to affect 63,500 in Britain.

It causes stiffness and pain and eventually distorts the spine, giving people a distinctive stoop.

The study, presented at the European League Against Rheumatism Annual Congress in London, revealed those who had suffered appendicitis before the age of 17 were 40 per cent less likely to develop the condition.

The University of Gothenburg researchers, who used medical records from nearly 14,000 patients, also found that people who had experienced lung infections during childhood were 20 per cent more likely to suffer from the back condition, suggesting that some bacteria increases the risk of ankylosing spondylitis, while others reduce it.

Around 40,000 people are admitted to hospital with appendicitis each year in England – most of them children and teenagers. Professor Iain McInnes, an expert in arthritis at Glasgow University, said: ‘What we are starting to learn is that people who go on to have chronic inflammation have changes in the bacteria in their intestine.

‘The gut is the place where the body talks to the immune system. People who are exposed to infections when they have appendicitis seem to have a more educated immune system.’

He added: ‘There are no cures available for this condition – so anything that we can learn about it might lead to something which can reduce the pain, the stiffness and the deformity they experience.’