The appendix may be useful after all October 6, 2007
Posted by Al in : educational,medical , trackbackFor a long time, probably since medicine achieved any form of respectability, the appendix has been seen as a relatively pointless piece of the intestines. It doesn’t seem to do anything, it regularly gets inflamed, and people live without it perfectly well. It’s purpose has always been a mystery, which may have just been solved. The suggestion put forward is that the appendix is somewhere the body can cultivate, and store, the bacteria the gut needs to help us digest food. If you get an infection, of take some form of anti-bacterial agent, then the appendix can help your intestines repopulate themselves with good bacteria your body is used to. This sounds good to me, so I’ll try to look after my appendix from now on.
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