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Scientists Find Reason For The Appendix; Protects Good Germs
Washington D.C. (AHN) - Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix is to produce and protects good germs for your gut. This theory is explained in an online edition of the Journal of Theoretical Biology. According to the study, there are massive amounts of bacteria in the human digestive system. Most of it is good and helps digest food. But sometimes this bacteria dies off or is purged from the intestines.
When the diseases such as cholera or dysentery cause bacterial purging, the bacteria in the appendix are safely harbored. According to the researchers, the appendix's job is to "reboot" the digestive system when that happens.
It's a common notion that vermiform appendix is a vestigial organ and many doctors believed it had no function. It is a blind ended tube connected to the cecum, from which it develops embryologically.
The term "vermiform" comes from Latin and means "wormlike in appearance". The cecum is a pouch-like structure of the colon. The appendix is near the junction of the small intestine and the large intestine.
Scientists Find Reason For The Appendix; Protects Good Germs | October 6, 2007 | AHN (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7008741729 - broken link)
I had one surgery, and I hoped that the doctor did not take out my appendix, but I never asked. Just that I have known all of my life that there is a reason for the appendix. Now I have been proven right. Thanks for the article as I have always wondered. I can see why you have so many rep points.
I still have mine, although I tried to get rid of it two times in the past.
When I was only 25 I had to have my gall bladder removed. That was back in '78 and the surgery still involved a long incision (mine was 8" long). I asked the doctor to take my appendix at the same time so that I wouldn't have to worry about appendicitis in the future. The doctor prowled around my insides and could not locate my appendix--so he stitched me back up, my appendix intact.
Seven years later, I needed another surgery that involved a seven inch incision from the belly button down. I figured that surgery was so much closer to the home of my appendix that surely it could be found. Once again it escaped detection. I was stapled shut with that wily appendage intact.
If I should ever get appendicitis I am going to be sooooo upset!
The only people i've ever known to have their appendix removed was my Dad and one of my brothers: They were both heavy drinkers.
No one else in my family have had theirs removed, and I still have mine. And i'm keeping it.
I separated from my appendix at the ripe old age of 14. I had a severe attack of appendicitis and from an initial mis-diagnosis the thing almost ruptured.
I had one of those that got infected, or whatever appendixes do. Out it came.
this is interesting. waaayyyy back then, it was thought to be part of the digestive tract that was used to digest the really rough stuff like grasses and leaves from when our primitive ancestors lived on such as that. Then as diet improved, the appendix sort of lost it's reason for existence. things like that take millions of years.
The Husband had his out. False alarm. It turned out that he had a kidney stone. His blood work wasn't right for it to be the appendix, but the pain was in the right spot and the surgeon didn't want to take the chance. The kidney stone turned out to be one of those weird ones that take special dyes to show up on X-rays.
Both my twin sister and my husband had to have an emergency appendectomy in their young teens (11-13). Both of them strangely have regular and uncomfortable stomach problems, in comparison to the rest of us... I found this report quite fascinating!
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