Surprise! Appendix may not be superfluous after all.

[Justforfun000]

Well well. It's apparently conditionally vestigial...

Scientists: Appendix protects good germs

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer1 hour, 40 minutes ago

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 immunologists at Duke University Medical School, published online in a scientific journal this week.

For generations the appendix has been dismissed as superfluous. Doctors figured it had no function, surgeons removed them routinely, and people live fine without them.

And when infected the appendix can turn deadly. It gets inflamed quickly and some people die if it isn't removed in time. Two years ago, 321,000 Americans were hospitalized with appendicitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system, according to the study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. There are more bacteria than human cells in the typical body. Most of it is good and helps digest food.

But sometimes the flora of bacteria in the intestines die or are purged. Diseases such as cholera or amoebic dysentery would clear the gut of useful bacteria. The appendix's job is to reboot the digestive system in that case.

The appendix "acts as a good safe house for bacteria," said Duke surgery professor Bill Parker, a study co-author. Its location — just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac — helps support the theory, he said.

Also, the worm-shaped organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory, cultivating the good germs, Parker said.

That use is not needed in a modern industrialized society, Parker said. If a person's gut flora dies, they can usually repopulate it easily with germs they pick up from other people, he said. But before dense populations in modern times and during epidemics of cholera that affected a whole region, it wasn't as easy to grow back that bacteria and the appendix came in handy.

In less developed countries, where the appendix may be still useful, the rate of appendicitis is lower than in the U.S., other studies have shown, Parker said.

He said the appendix may be another case of an overly hygienic society triggering an overreaction by the body's immune system.

Even though the appendix seems to have a function, people should still have them removed when they are inflamed because it could turn deadly, Parker said. About 300 to 400 Americans die of appendicitis each year, according to the CDC.

Five scientists not connected with the research said that the Duke theory makes sense and raises interesting questions.

The idea "seems by far the most likely" explanation for the function of the appendix, said Brandeis University biochemistry professor Douglas Theobald. "It makes evolutionary sense."

The theory led Gary Huffnagle, a University of Michigan internal medicine and microbiology professor, to wonder about the value of another body part that is often yanked: "I'll bet eventually we'll find the same sort of thing with the tonsils."

___

On the Net:

The Journal of Theoretical Biology:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00225193

[Tsyroc]

Interesting theory.

Too late for me though. Mine ruptured and I had to have it removed over 20 years ago.

[Gustav32Vasa]

Damn, I had mine removed.

[Broomstick]

Not a big problem these days - there are pills called "probiotics" that can help recolonize your guts with benificial bacteria. Available over the counter in fact. Ain't civilization wonderful?

[Tasoth]

I remember my A&P teacher saying something like this over a year ago. If I remember what she also said, people without their appendix are slightly more susceptible to various stomach infections.

[tim31]

Despite a surgeon's opinion that it wasn't inflammed, which ran contrary to my father's initial assesment, they agreed to 'take it out anyway' if I wanted; my surgeon visited the next morning and basically walked in saying 'ho ho ho, it's lucky we got it out of you when we did!' conjuring up images of him opening the window of the operating theatre and throwing the removed organ clear just before it exploded.

[Gustav32Vasa]

Despite a surgeon's opinion that it wasn't inflammed, which ran contrary to my father's initial assesment, they agreed to 'take it out anyway' if I wanted; my surgeon visited the next morning and basically walked in saying 'ho ho ho, it's lucky we got it out of you when we did!' conjuring up images of him opening the window of the operating theatre and throwing the removed organ clear just before it exploded.

Lucky he had a knife then.

[Invictus ChiKen]

So does this mean Atheist can't use the appendix as an argument against creationism now?

[General Zod]

So does this mean Atheist can't use the appendix as an argument against creationism now?

Which appendix argument?

[bilateralrope]

So does this mean Atheist can't use the appendix as an argument against creationism now?

Which appendix argument?

I think its something like asking why the creator would of left the appendix in there when it does nothing in the best case, but can cause serious problems in the worst case. But as I've never seen this argument before, this is just a guess.

[Invictus ChiKen]

I think its something like asking why the creator would of left the appendix in there when it does nothing in the best case, but can cause serious problems in the worst case. But as I've never seen this argument before, this is just a guess.

That's the argument in a nut shell.

[Napoleon the Clown]

Not a big problem these days - there are pills called "probiotics" that can help recolonize your guts with benificial bacteria. Available over the counter in fact. Ain't civilization wonderful?

I can think of a tasty way of keeping beneficial bacteria populations in your gut up. Yogurt. It is by no means uncommon for a doctor to tell someone to eat plenty of yogurt with active cultures while they're on a heavy/long term antibiotics.

So does this mean Atheist can't use the appendix as an argument against creationism now?

Not quite. The appendix is still an atrocious design for what it may do.

[Broomstick]

Not a big problem these days - there are pills called "probiotics" that can help recolonize your guts with benificial bacteria. Available over the counter in fact. Ain't civilization wonderful?

I can think of a tasty way of keeping beneficial bacteria populations in your gut up. Yogurt.

YOU may call yogurt "tasty", but I will remind you that it is not universally loved. In fact, I loathe it (except for some sauces where it is an ingredient). It smells like spoiled dairy product to me and tastes worse (in my perception). I'm sure the fact that as a kid I was not exposed to it or several other varieties of fermented dairy products (I loathe sour cream as well) has much to do with it, but there you go.

[Lord of the Abyss]

So does this mean Atheist can't use the appendix as an argument against creationism now?

Not quite. The appendix is still an atrocious design for what it may do.

And that's one of the classic anti-creationist arguments. Our and other creatures bodies are full of things that work - badly. With obvious mistakes that a human designer ( who could create creatures in the first place ) would never commit. Much less a supposedly superhuman; nay, perfect and all-knowing god.

I've always found it amusing that so many religious types want to give the credit to their god for such a shoddy piece of work.

[tim31]

Not a big problem these days - there are pills called "probiotics" that can help recolonize your guts with benificial bacteria. Available over the counter in fact. Ain't civilization wonderful?

I can think of a tasty way of keeping beneficial bacteria populations in your gut up. Yogurt.

YOU may call yogurt "tasty", but I will remind you that it is not universally loved. In fact, I loathe it (except for some sauces where it is an ingredient). It smells like spoiled dairy product to me and tastes worse (in my perception). I'm sure the fact that as a kid I was not exposed to it or several other varieties of fermented dairy products (I loathe sour cream as well) has much to do with it, but there you go.

Not to mention that not everyone's constitution is tolerant of the levels of lactic acid found in diary produce.

[Mayabird]

So, the appendix is like tapeworms. Having them can cause different effects in pre-modern vs. modern industrialized societies. Not having tapeworms in a modern society can make someone more susceptible to having allergies, while in third world countries they suck away your nutrients (but you don't have allergies). An appendix means that you can replenish gut flora if you get some disease and don't have probiotics/yogurt/whatever because you're in a primitive shithole, though you can still die from appendicitis (IIRC that's one the one guy who died on the Lewis and Clark expedition died from).

I find it academically interesting but that's about it.

[General Zod]

I think its something like asking why the creator would of left the appendix in there when it does nothing in the best case, but can cause serious problems in the worst case. But as I've never seen this argument before, this is just a guess.

That's the argument in a nut shell.

I've always used the appendix as an example against circumcision as opposed to creationism. Never heard it used against creationism before. (I prefer using nipples on men for superfluous body parts as examples against creationists).

[Justforfun000]

So...my question is this...when I'm given heavy antibiotics by the doctors, and I'm concerned about my good intestinal flora, I just have to lie back and wait for my appendix to repopulate it?

I don't ever need probiotics because of my appendix? I'm waiting for one of the medical experts to tell me "Well..not EXACTLY...."

[General Zod]

So...my question is this...when I'm given heavy antibiotics by the doctors, and I'm concerned about my good intestinal flora, I just have to lie back and wait for my appendix to repopulate it?

I don't ever need probiotics because of my appendix? I'm waiting for one of the medical experts to tell me "Well..not EXACTLY...."

Define "heavy" antibiotics.

[Justforfun000]

Define "heavy" antibiotics.

They tend to use that phrase to refer to a high dose, and a fairly long period of dosage.

[Broomstick]

So...my question is this...when I'm given heavy antibiotics by the doctors, and I'm concerned about my good intestinal flora, I just have to lie back and wait for my appendix to repopulate it?

I don't ever need probiotics because of my appendix? I'm waiting for one of the medical experts to tell me "Well..not EXACTLY...."

I have an appendix I was still told to use probiotics after I was hospitalized with severe post-infection GI problems, and I wasn't even given antibiotics in that case.

If your gut flora is severely depleted, sure, it will renew on its own - but it can take weeks, even months, and meanwhile you won't digest your food efficiently. Probiotics can help things along

[FSTargetDrone]

And that's one of the classic anti-creationist arguments. Our and other creatures bodies are full of things that work - badly. With obvious mistakes that a human designer ( who could create creatures in the first place ) would never commit. Much less a supposedly superhuman; nay, perfect and all-knowing god.

Ah! Don't use "creature" when talking to or denouncing a creationist. "Creature" implies a creator!

Sorry.

[Justforfun000]

Broomstick wrote:

If your gut flora is severely depleted, sure, it will renew on its own - but it can take weeks, even months, and meanwhile you won't digest your food efficiently. Probiotics can help things along

Ahh. That makes sense. Proving yet again that SOMETIMES science is better than nature.

[FSTargetDrone]

Foods specifically marketed with "Probiotic" seems to be a somewhat recent trend. You'll see it prominently printed on the packaging of yogurts and such and its sales increasing.