Appendix, the common name for the vermiform appendix – a wormlike sac approximately 3.5 inches long attached to the cecum (the beginning of the large intestine). The appendix is called a vestigal organ – that is to say, it no longer has a function in the body, being simply a vestige of an organ in an ancestral species. It is usually on the right side of the body in the groin area. Substances in the intestine may find their way into the appendix and then may be removed by the involuntary contractions of the abdominal muscles (peristalsis).

Sometimes, material – such as undigested food particles and fecal matter – collects in the appendix and blocks its opening. When this happens, the appendix begins to swell and becomes infected, a condition known as appendictis.

Well, you know medical science sometimes changes and now scientists indicate in the recent online version of the Journal of Evolutionary Biology that the appendix, often thought to have no real medical value, does have its benefits after all. I don’t have my appendix anymore after its removal by a surgery (appendectomy) in 1981, due to acute appendicitis. It is estimated that millions of people don’t have their appendix after surgical removal.

Dr. William Parker, an immunologist at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., and his colleagues suggest that the vermiform appendix serves to repopulate the gut with good bacteria after a bad case of diarrhea, by being a store chest of good bacteria.

…vermiform appendix serves to repopulate the gut with good bacteria after a bad case of diarrhea…

The Controversial Practice So Far

It is ironical that sometimes, the appendix is removed during abdominal surgery for other purpose even though it is perfectly normal. This practice is controversial; some surgeons feel that most people, sooner or later, will develop appendictis and will have to have an appendectomy performed. Therefore, they reason, the appendix should be removed during abdominal surgery to obviate the necessity of a second operation at a later time. They assume that since, in their opinion, the appendix serves no proven useful function in the body, its removal has no adverse effect on the patient.

I hope, after this information, from now on you have your right to keep  your appendix exists in your body if you are sure there is no acute infection (appendictis).