The appendix was long thought to be useless. It’s removed in cases of appendicitis — inflammation that's especially common in children. But new research shows it may play a crucial role in supporting ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without ...

There was a time when pediatricians routinely recommended tonsil removal, even for healthy children — including me. As far as I can tell, I suffered no ill effects — plus, I got extra ice cream! That ...

The appendix is a very small finger-like tissue attached to the beginning of the large intestine, in the lower right side of the abdomen. It is popularly known as a vestigial organ, as in one which ...

Many Americans grew up with the idea their appendix is an unnecessary organ, made obsolete by evolution. But in the last 20 years or so, scientists have come to believe the appendix serves a purpose, ...

(THE CONVERSATION) Most people know only two things about the appendix: You don’t need it – and if it bursts, you need surgery fast. That basic story traces back at least to Charles Darwin, the ...

Since the dawn of modern medicine the vermiform appendix has seemed to be a completely useless organ. This week, the University of Chicago’s Dr. Leon 0. Jacobson suggested that a use for the appendix ...

Appendix cancer, also called appendiceal cancer, is when abnormal cells grow and form a tumor in the appendix. Your appendix is a little pouch-like organ attached to the lower right side of your large ...