Appendix Function Revealed
After centuries of being relegated to nothing more than a useless heap of an organ, scientists think they have finally identified the appendix function.
Inside all of our bodies are millions of bacteria — some good, some bad. The bad bacteria can cause infection and make us sick, while the commensal (or beneficial) bacteria keep our intestines in balance and try to fight off infectious microbes.
If the good bacteria lose the fight, they would be completely wiped out, leaving us at the mercy of the "dark side". In fact, this is why it's not uncommon for gastrointestinal problems to occur when taking antibiotics: Not only do they kill the harmful bacteria, but they also wipe out many of the good guys, because your medicine can't always tell the difference.
So, researchers discovered that the appendix acts as a shelter for the commensal bacteria, allowing the good guys to survive and repopulate your body when the storm is over.
However, in modern times, as our sanitation and hygiene has increased, this function has become less and less important, which is why it's been overlooked for so long.
"Although the function of the organ may have been determined, it is most certainly not important in our culture, and if you try to hang on to it after it gets inflamed, it could be deadly," says senior author Dr. William Parker, from Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
So, we may have been right all along: Even if the appendix isn't useless, the appendix function may very well be sooo last millennium!
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