Traditional Medicine and Medical History Research Center, Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Traditional Medicine and Medical History Research Center, Health Research Center, Babol University of Medical Sciences, Babol, Islamic Republic of Iran.
Med Hypotheses. 2018 Mar;112:43-46. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2018.01.009.
The spleen has been one of the least understood major organs for centuries. Its significance is relatively well-known today but it seems that all aspects of its activities are not fully understood. Persian medicine (PM) has special views on the function of spleen; many side effects were reported in PM due to spleen dysfunction. On the other hand nowadays splenectomy as a treatment strategy is recommended for some disorders and increasing risk of infections is considered as the most important long term side effect of that. In this study, we hypothesize that splenectomy may have more side effects than currently proven. According to PM, spleen is in close connection with liver, cardiovascular system, stomach, bone, brain and skin, and that is why any kind of spleen dysfunction leads to change in blood viscosity, appetite and bone strength, liver dysfunction, mood and skin disorders, cancer formation and fever. Considering this viewpoint it can be hypothesized such side effects may also occur after splenectomy. Proven complications of splenectomy include hypercoagulated state, cardiovascular events and infectious diseases but there is also some evidence about increased risk of cancer, skin disease like systemic lupus erythematosus, mood disorder such as depression, defective bone formation and impairment of immunity which can be considered as different levels of evidence to confirm the hypothesis. But for some others such as changes in appetite, there are no studies let alone convincing evidence. Future research about theses possible complications may lead to novel results.
几个世纪以来，脾脏一直是人们了解最少的主要器官之一。尽管如今它的功能已被广泛认知，但似乎人们对其所有活动仍未完全了解。波斯医学（PM）对脾脏的功能有特殊的观点；由于脾脏功能失调，PM 中报告了许多副作用。另一方面，如今脾切除术作为一种治疗策略被推荐用于某些疾病，而感染风险增加被认为是这种治疗的最重要的长期副作用。在这项研究中，我们假设脾切除术可能比目前证实的有更多的副作用。根据 PM，脾脏与肝脏、心血管系统、胃、骨骼、大脑和皮肤密切相关，因此任何类型的脾脏功能失调都会导致血液粘度、食欲和骨骼强度、肝功能、情绪和皮肤疾病、癌症形成和发烧的变化。考虑到这一观点，可以假设脾切除术后也可能出现这些副作用。脾切除术的已知并发症包括高凝状态、心血管事件和传染病，但也有一些证据表明癌症风险增加、系统性红斑狼疮等皮肤病、抑郁症等情绪障碍、骨形成缺陷和免疫功能受损，这些可以被视为不同级别的证据来证实该假说。但对于其他一些情况，如食欲变化，目前尚无研究，更不用说令人信服的证据了。对这些可能的并发症的进一步研究可能会产生新的结果。
