A NEW STUDY has not only dispelled theories that having your appendix removed may impact negatively on fertility, but suggests that it actually improves your chances of getting pregnant.

Researchers at the University of Dundee examined medical records from more than half a million British women between 1987 to 2012.

The results showed a link between appendectomies and rates of pregnancy in those women.

The study also found a similar a link between having your tonsils removed and higher fertility rates.

The study found that for every 100 pregnancies in women who had had no procedures, by comparison there were:

• 134 pregnancies in women who had had their appendix removed
• 149 pregnancies in women who had had their tonsils removed
• And 143 pregnancies in women who had had both removed.

The reason behind the results

One of the study’s researchers, Dr Sami Shimi told the BBC that since appendicitis and tonsillitis are both caused by inflammation, this may affect the functioning of the ovaries and womb, and chances of conceiving.

The more preferred explanation, however, is that women who have sex more often are more prone to develop appendicitis as well as become pregnant, but more research is needed to confirm either of these two theories.

Appendicitis is the inflammation of the appendix, which, if not treated, can rupture and become fatal. As the appendix (a small pouch at the end of your large intestine) has no known function in the human body, usually there is no great danger in removing it.

But previous studies had hinted that the surgical trauma of appendectomy might hinder a woman’s fertility by leaving scar tissue on the fallopian tubes, and obstructing the egg on its way to the uterus.

However, this study, along with a previous study conducted by the University of Dundee in 2012, seems to show that the opposite is true.

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