The appendix is an organ we tend not to think about until it acts up, causes illness and needs to be removed surgically.

One common surgery many individuals need to get at some point in their lives is an appendectomy. This is a surgical procedure to remove the appendix, which is a small pouch-like organ on the right ...

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Colbert is away from late-night TV following emergency surgery last week — the comedian's appendix burst. That made us wonder: What does the appendix do for our body? And why are ...

It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family's upcoming ski trip. But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, ...

The appendix is a small organ situated between the small and large intestines. For a long time, scientists didn't know its function and deemed it useless. In fact, it was seen as potentially dangerous ...

Some scientists think they have figured out the real job of the troublesome and seemingly useless appendix: It produces and protects good germs for your gut. That's the theory from surgeons and ...

DURHAM, N.C. – The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers at Duke University Medical Center proposed that it actually ...

DURHAM, N.C. – Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be – as a “safe house” for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut. Drawing upon a series ...

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