Most of us are familiar with the appendix, that worm-shaped tube at the beginning of the large intestine, even if we can’t remember which side of the abdomen it resides. (Hint: It’s not the left side.

The appendix has long had a reputation as a redundant organ with no real function. Doctors often remove it even in mild cases of appendicitis to prevent future infection and rupture, which may not ...

According to a new study by researchers at Midwestern University, the appendix might serve an important bodily function. According to the study, led by Heather F. Smith, an associate professor at ...

in 2007, Associate Professor William Parker of Duke University School of Medicine discovered that the appendix was used as a 'reservoir of gut microbiota.' Bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria and ...

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix, an organ often credited with little importance and often dismissed as having no significant ...

The colon is part of the digestive system. It helps the body absorb water and nutrients from food before excreting the waste. It is made up of muscle and located just below the stomach. People ...

Traditionally the appendix is the blockbuster of useless body parts – a leader in purposelessness ahead of wisdom teeth and the tailbone. However, a new study suggests the appendix isn’t vestigial at ...

The theory of evolution suggests that the present-day ‘vestigial parts’ of the human body – like the appendix, wisdom teeth, and tailbone – fell out of use with the passage of time as we continued to ...

The appendix is a finger-like projection described as a blind-ended tube, usually several inches long, that is attached to the large intestine at its beginning known as the cecum. This is the area ...