7 Amazing health benefits of Appendix

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For a long time,we have assumed that appendix have no important functions in our body.
Nevertheless researchers have long been on the quest to decipher the most important functions of appendix in the body.
Before we look at this functions,we shall first of all understand what appendix is in the body.
What is Appendix?
The appendix is a small, pouch-like sac of tissue that is located in the first part of the colon (cecum) in the lower- right abdomen.
Lymphatic tissue in the appendix aids in immune function.
The medical name of the appendix is veriform appendix, which means “worm-like appendage.”
The appendix harbors bacteria.
Study says it could actually serve a important biological function – and one that humans aren’t ready to give up.

“Thus, we can boldly counteract the hypothesis that the appendix is a vestigial organ with little adaptive value or function in the body.

The reason it still exists – and occasionally has to be removed due to potentially fatal inflammation and rupturing – is that it’s too ‘evolutionarily expensive’ to get rid of altogether. There’s little evolutionary pressure to lose such a significant part of the body.

In other words, the amount of effort it would take for the human species to gradually lose the appendix though thousands of years of evolution is just not worth it, because in the majority of people, it just sits there not hurting anyone.

But what if it’s doing more than just sitting there?

Is it not obvious that the somewhat lowly appendix may have a purpose after all?

New research suggests that the once thought vestigial organ is a store for good bacteria in the gut.

Although the study failed to provide direct proof of this proposed purpose for the appendix, researchers say there’s a strong case to be made for the appendix based on new information about the role of bacteria in intestinal health.”While there is no smoking gun, the abundance of circumstantial evidence makes a strong case for the role of the appendix as a place where the good bacteria can live safe and undisturbed until they are needed,” researcher William Parker, PhD, assistant professor of experimental surgery at Duke University Medical Center, says in a news release.
Not much is known about the human appendix because studies on the appendix are difficult to conduct.
There are only a few animals that have the organ; an animal’s appendix is very different than the human appendix.
Researchers deduce that the appendix is designed to protect good bacteria in the gut.
That way, when the gut is affected by a bout of diarrhea or other illness that cleans out the intestines, the good bacteria in the appendix can repopulate the digestive system and keep you healthy.
Importance of Appendix

  1. The appendix is a store house for beneficial bacteria.
  2. The good bacteria produced or stored in the appendix helps the gut recover from infections.
  3. The human appendix is also involved in the maturation of specific lymphocytes called B-cells.
  4. B-cells produces antibodies that attack invading bacteria,viruses and toxins.
  5. Appendix is also invloved in the production of certain molecules that helps direct the movement of lymphocytes to various other locations in the body.
  6. A type of antibody called immunoglobulin A (igA) is produced in the appendix.
  7. The antibody plays an important role in mucosal immunity.

The above mentione functions of the appendix are not ones anybody can afford to give up easily.

Irrespective of that,it is advise able that once inflammation of the apendix (Appendicitis)occurs urgent medical attention should be provided to avoid complications.

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