Judy Foreman

Nationally Sindicated Fitness, Health, and Medicine Columnist

  • HOME
  • Books
  • BIO
  • BLOG
  • COLUMNS
  • Q&A
  • PRESS
  • CONTACT

Q & A Search

Q & A Topics

Acupuncture Airplane Masks Alcohol Abuse Alcoholic Cooking Alexander Technique Allergies Anesthesia Antibiotics & Food Antidepressants Anxiety & Exercise Appetite & Sickness Arthritis Arthritis & Tendonitis Arthritis Surgery Artificial Sweeteners Aspirin & Airplanes Aspirin & Ibuprofen Asthma Inhalers Autism Baby Faces Back Pain Bad Breath Bad Shoes Balance & Age Bariatric Surgery Bed Wetting Beta Blockers Black Cohosh Body Fat Body Mass Index Body Odor Bogus Warnings Bone Density Botox Injections Bovine Hormones BP Machines Breast Cancer Breastfeeding & Cancer Broken Heart Burning Mouth Syndrome Burning Toast Butt Surgery Calcium Scan Cancer Risk Cancer Vaccine Cancer-Prone Personality Canker Sores Cellphones Chewing Gum Chewing Ice Children & Anesthesia Chinese Medicine Chiropractic Treatment Chlorine Chorus & Health Christmas Tree Allergy Clemens Treatments Clogged Sinuses Coenzyme Q10 Cold Cold Contagion Cold Medications and the Prostate Cold/Flu Colonoscopy Colonoscopy Risk Computer Use Constipation Contact Lenses Cosmetics Dark Circles Declining Fertility Dental X-rays Deodorant & Breast Cancer Diabetes & Feet Diet & Acid Balance Dietitian Disposable Contacts Diverticulitis Dogs or Cats Drug Information Ear Infections Ear Lobes Ear Wax Eating Broccoli Eating Protein Eggs Electric Shocks Electronic Records Emergency Room Emotions & Cancer Endometriosis Energy Drinks Estrogen & The Skin Estrogen Patches Ethics Consult Exercise & Appetite Exercise & Health Exercise & Stretching Expired Medicines Eye-color Facial Muscles Falling Asleep Feeling Cold Female Hair Loss Fertility Drug Clomid Fertility Monitors Fever Fighting Fever Fingernails First Aid Kits Fizzy Drinks Flat Feet Flu Vaccine Forehead Thermometers Free Radicals French Fries Frozen Chicken Gallblader Polyps Garlic Garlic Supplements General Anesthesia Grapefruit Juice Gray Hair Green Light Laser Therapy Green Tea Gregariousness Grilled Foods Group Therapy Growth Hormone Grumpiness Hair Relaxer Hand Sanitizers HDLs & LDLs Heading Hearing Loss Heart Cancer? Heart Disease Heart Problems Heart Rate & Exercise HIV Medication Home Thermostat Hospital Discharge Hospital Rash Humidifier Use Husbands Age & Birth Defects Hydrocephalus? Hyperactivity Ibuprofen Ibuprofen for Colds Inflammatory Breast Cancer Insomnia Interrupted sleep Iron Supplements Is Sedation Safe Itchy Feet Jogging & Smoking Joint Lubricants Keyboard/Bacteria Kidney Problems Kidney Stone Kidney Stones Kids Food Knuckles Lactose Intolerance Laser Surgery LASIK surgery Lead in Lunch Boxes Liposuction Liver Failure Local Honey Lose Fat Low Blood Pressure Low-Carb Diet Lung Cancer Lupus Macular Degeneration Magnets & Pain Mail Stool Samples Male Baldness Marathon Runners Medical Treatment Meditation Melanoma Self Test Menstrual Cramps Menstruation Suppression Mesotherapy Migraines and Breast Cancer MiniTransplant Miscarriage Moles Mononucleosis Morning or Evening Execise? Mosquito Repellent Mothball Fumes MSG Muscle Builder Muscle Pain Muscle Tears & Ibuprofen Nasal Steroids Newborns Hips Night Terrors Nosebleeds Oats are Great Open Biopsy Osteoporosis Osteoporosis Drug Pacifier Use Painkillers Pajamas vs. Clothes Pelvic Muscle Tear Penicillin Allergy Pets & Health Pets Colds & Flu Pilates Pins and Needles Plantar Fasciitis Poison Ivy Polio Prayer Books Preeclampsia Pressure Ulcers Probiotic Bacteria Probiotics Prostate Biopsy Prostate Cancer Protective Fabrics Psoriasis Red Wine Reflux/Endoscopy Restless Leg Resveratrol Retail Health Clinics Running & Knee Injury Running Nose Salt Schizophrenia Seasonal Affective Disorder Shingles Sleep Apnea Sleep Deprivation Sleeping Pills Smiling-Depression Sneezing Snow Shoveling Spleen Store Bought Glasses Strength Training Stretching Stroke Test Sudden Deafness Sugar Guidelines Sun Screens Sun-seeking Sunburn Sunglasses Sunscreens Swearing & Pain Swimming Tai Chi & Health Tanning Palors Teen Pregnancy Teenage Depression Teeth Grinding Thyroid Cancer Tight Clothes Tinnitus TMJ /TMD Toenail Fungus Toilet Seat Tongue Piercings Tonsils Toothbrush Toothbrushes Trampoline Treadmill Exercise Urinary Tract Infections Urination Varicose Veins Viagra Virtual Colonography Vitamin D Vodka Warts Weekly Workouts Weight Gain Weight Loss Weight Loss Surgery Wet Hair & Colds Whiten Teeth Yoga & Bone Density

Are there any consequences to not having a spleen?

June 22, 2004 by

Yes: Be extremely vigilant about infections.

The spleen, sometimes called a “bag of blood,” lies in the upper left-hand side of the abdomen and is an important part of the infection-fighting immune system. Living without one means you have to treat infections quickly, even if they seem minor. If you see a doctor who doesn’t know your history, be sure to tell him or her about your spleen removal (splenectomy) so that he or she can give you antibiotics. You might also wear a Medic-Alert bracelet to let emergency caretakers know you may need antibiotics to prevent a minor infection from becoming a life-threatening one.

The spleen, a kind of giant lymph node, has multiple functions. Immune cells called T cells are produced in the thymus gland, while other immune cells called B cells are made in the bone marrow. Both types of cells then go to the spleen where they become “educated” or specialized for different functions, noted Dr. Jerome E. Groopman, chief of experimental medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. B cells make the antibodies that fight bacteria such as streptococcus and other microbes. The spleen also functions as a kind of filter or trap that contains cells called macrophages that gobble up old, dying blood cells. Without a spleen, the body is less efficient at getting rid of this cellular debris.

Many people, like you, have their spleens removed after a trauma in order to control bleeding that could otherwise be fatal. But the spleen may also become dysfunctional in certain leukemias and lymphomas and sickle cell disease; in such cases, if the spleen swells so large that it causes pain in the abdomen, it is often removed. For people who must have their spleens removed for these reasons, it’s important to get a full series of vaccinations before the surgery to help fight potential infections afterwards.

Copyright © 2025 Judy Foreman