So I learned something today. The spleen actually DOES something.

[MiniMandaRuth]

I never knew this, but the spleen has a real function, not just being the butt of many of my jokes.

It filters blood.

Who knew?

[DarkTirade]

1. Well duh.

That's why I collect them. :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. Yeah, yeah

What about your new hair? :shrug:

[Kutjara]

3. Oh yes. Without one you'd be...

...very unwell. For a very short time.

[KitchenWitch]

6. I have not had a spleen for over twenty years

I would not consider myself "very unwell"

Just sayin'

[Kutjara]

9. Wow. I always thought the lack of a spleen...

...was pretty serious. Do you have to take any medication or undergo treatment to compensate for the missing organ?

[KitchenWitch]

12. No.

I just have to be diligent in my hand washing habits. The rest of the lymph system tends takes over for the lack of a spleen.

I do have to have the Pneumovax every few years, and I am very conscientious about getting my flu shot and other immunizations.

[Kutjara]

14. Thanks for the info KW.

I had a friend in high school who had to have his spleen removed after a particularly ill-advised football tackle, and we managed to convince ourselves his days were numbered. It's amazing how misinformation can sit in the back of the brain for decades, unchallenged, until it calcifies into "fact."

[KitchenWitch]

17. Hey, no sweat.

My spleen was removed because I had Hodgkins Lymphoma when I was 23. There were no cancer cells in it, but it is better to remove one that does not have cancer cells than leave one in that does.

[Xipe Totec]

4. Can you pleas' 'spleen your post?

If the spleen filters, what do the kidneys and liver do?

:shrug:

[Kutjara]

5. The spleen destroys old red blood cells.

It also has a role in fighting infections, but the mechanism by which it does this is still poorly understood.

[Solon]

7. I guess that explains why they say people without spleens are more likely to get infections. n/t

[Q3JR4]

8. Um....More filtering....? n/t

[Xipe Totec]

13. Series?!11! nt

[TZ]

10. liver removes the foreign waste in the blood stream

(non blood cells) things like alcohol. Kidneys filter out liquid waste from the digestive system. Thats the simplistic explanation. And yes, I knew about the spleen..I have a blood condition in which the spleen can be troublesome....

[Xipe Totec]

11. So, what happens when they remove your spleen,

As they do sometimes?

[KitchenWitch]

18. the rest of your lymph system compensates.

[struggle4progress]

15. Yeah, it vents

[auntAgonist]

16. I have no spleen. Had it removed in 1977

It was over filtering my blood. Taking out way too many platelets. Idiopathicthrombocytopaenia.

Splenectomy and voila, problem solved.

aA