Why do we even have an appendix?

First of all I’m sorry for your Grandson, hope he gets well real soon. I don’t know why we have it, we don’t need it and it doesn’t need us.

Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

@Dibley Thank you. Thank God for modern medicine….

It is a save haven for useful colon bacteria from which they can spread out again after Diarrhea.

The appendix is one of humans’ vestigial organs; through evolution, we have lost our need for it.

The tonsils refer to an area of tissues at the back of the throat, which used to be necessary in order for humans to store paperclips and staples. After the invention of “binder clips”, these tissues, which became obsolete and no longer used, got pissed off and decided to inflame every so often. We call this “tonsillitis.”

“For years, the appendix was credited with very little physiological function. We now know, however, that the appendix serves an important role in the fetus and in young adults. Endocrine cells appear in the appendix of the human fetus at around the 11th week of development. These endocrine cells of the fetal appendix have been shown to produce various biogenic amines and peptide hormones, compounds that assist with various biological control (homeostatic) mechanisms. There had been little prior evidence of this or any other role of the appendix in animal research, because the appendix does not exist in domestic mammals.

“Among adult humans, the appendix is now thought to be involved primarily in immune functions. Lymphoid tissue begins to accumulate in the appendix shortly after birth and reaches a peak between the second and third decades of life, decreasing rapidly thereafter and practically disappearing after the age of 60. During the early years of development, however, the appendix has been shown to function as a lymphoid organ, assisting with the maturation of B lymphocytes (one variety of white blood cell) and in the production of the class of antibodies known as immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies. Researchers have also shown that the appendix is involved in the production of molecules that help to direct the movement of lymphocytes to various other locations in the body.

“In this context, the function of the appendix appears to be to expose white blood cells to the wide variety of antigens, or foreign substances, present in the gastrointestinal tract. Thus, the appendix probably helps to suppress potentially destructive humoral (blood- and lymph-borne) antibody responses while promoting local immunity. The appendix, like the tiny structures called Peyer’s patches in other areas of the gastrointestinal tract, takes up antigens from the contents of the intestines and reacts to these contents. This local immune system plays a vital role in the physiological immune response and in the control of food, drug, microbial or viral antigens. The connection between these local immune reactions and inflammatory bowel diseases, as well as autoimmune reactions in which the individual’s own tissues are attacked by the immune system, is currently under investigation.

“In the past, the appendix was often routinely removed and discarded during other abdominal surgeries to prevent any possibility of a later attack of appendicitis; the appendix is now spared in case it is needed later for reconstructive surgery if the urinary bladder is removed. In such surgery, a section of the intestine is formed into a replacement bladder, and the appendix is used to re-create a ‘sphincter muscle’ so that the patient remains continent (able to retain urine). In addition, the appendix has been successfully fashioned into a makeshift replacement for a diseased ureter, allowing urine to flow from the kidneys to the bladder. As a result, the appendix, once regarded as a nonfunctional tissue, is now regarded as an important ‘back-up’ that can be used in a variety of reconstructive surgical techniques. It is no longer routinely removed and discarded if it is healthy.

Source: Loren G. Martin, professor of physiology at Oklahoma State University,

@JeffVader haha! what the bloody…

and @Val123 An appendix is a vestigial structure. We used to need it back when we were still evolving to be homo sapiens. It was at a stage when our diet consisted of mainly herbivorous food such as plant material, the appendix was needed to break this all down. As we evolved, our diet changed (omnivorous) so we would have a wider range of food and be better able to survive, eventually rendering our appendix useless.

2 other vestigial structures I can think of are our vestigial tail (at the base of our spine).
And another one is a vestigial characteristic, you know when you are frightened or feel you are in danger the hairs on the back of your neck rise?
This is exactly like how cats react to danger, we puff up our hair to make us appear bigger and more menacing to the enemy. Except we are past that primitive stage now and our body hair has greatly receded in length apart from on our heads and armpits and ahem more southern places, so although our hairs still rise at danger, it is really rather useless.

my biology prof would be proud

And about your grandson, with modern medicine the way it is today, please rest assured :)
My 70 year old father had his appendix removed when he was 13 (back in 1953!) in the depths of a rural town in Sri Lanka, the medicine was all but… well rubbish, i think they still used leeches hehe and he made it alright!
I wish your grandson well :)

@TheOnlyException Hehehe, I thought I remembered someone saying it used to be used for digesting rough fibrous stuff like grass….. no idea if it’s true….. but it was an opportunity to Moooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

@JeffVader ahahaha okay i see now not an entirely mad answer there was reasoning behind it hahaha

@TheOnlyException Haha, yeh…. just about :)

For the same reason we have 1000 genes for smelling like dogs. But 700 are defunct and only 300 work. It didn’t matter for natural selection in case of humans. But genetic changes are slow, so there’s a lot of stuff in our genome. Like how to form an appendix.