The appendix is a useless excrescence. Is it?

Aappendix is useless. It has only disadvantages. It can become inflamed and infected - this is called the "appendicitis". The surgeon must then remove it to prevent peritonitis, a complication that involves life-threatening.

The appendix is therefore a mysterious remnant of evolution. Richard Darwin saw it as the remains of a distant era when our ancestors lived in trees and fed on leaves.He based this assumption on the fact that many herbivores also have an appendix, but of a very different form.

For several years, a team of U.S. researchers from Duke University (North Carolina) have been collapsing the credo of the uselessness of the appendix.

A dozen centimeter outgrowth located at the end of large intestine, according to them, plays a real role. It serves as a haven for "good" bacteria that line the walls of our intestines.

During severe diarrhea, these micro-organisms are protected within the natural shelter from where they can recolonize the gut.

Many recent discoveries show the crucial role of intestinal bacteria in digestion and the health of each individual. In an adult male, the intestinal flora is composed of one hundred trillion bacteria, representing a total weight of about 1.5 kilograms.

These micro-organisms are stacked on layers along the digestive tract, forming biofilms that protect the gut against toxic bacteria or external aggression.

The biologists have published a phylogenetic study in which they show that the appendix has existed for more than 80 million years, in different forms in several species of mammals, including primates and certain rodents (Journal of Evolutionary Biology, October 2009).

If the appendix has lasted so long in the living world, this is an evolutionary advantage, they argue in their conclusion. In developed countries, we are protected. We do not drink contaminated water. We do not need an appendix. In developing countries where sanitary conditions are worse, cases of appendicitis are much lower. In other words, it is only there that the appendix is still has its "raison d'etre".

The fact is the appendix is more valuable than you think.

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