The appendix is often only noticed when it necessitates troublesome removal. Wouldn't we be better off never having had an appendix at all? Darwin himself speculated that the appendix never served an ...

Scientists have found further evidence that the gut, or more specifically the appendix, might play a role in the development of Parkinson’s disease. The international team of scientists reviewed two ...

The appendix, notorious for its tendency to become inflamed or even rupture, has historically been viewed as a vestigial organ with no real function. But new research supports the idea that the ...

Long denigrated as vestigial or useless, the appendix now appears to have a reason to be - as a "safe house" for the beneficial bacteria living in the human gut. The gut is populated with different ...

The lowly appendix, long-regarded as a useless evolutionary artifact, won newfound respect two years ago when researchers proposed that it actually serves a critical function. The appendix, they said, ...

It may be painful, but there could be an unusual upside to appendicitis: Those who have had their appendix removed are 20% less likely to develop Parkinson’s disease, according to a new analysis of ...

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. PETER CAVE: It's long been regarded as a potentially troublesome, redundant organ, but American ...

Could it be that your appendix has far more importance than anyone's thought? Doctors have long assumed that the appendix is a useless dead-end piece of bowel down in the right-hand corner of your ...