Medscape Medical News Marta Zaraska June 10, 2024 When doctors and patients consider the appendix, it’s often with urgency. In cases of appendicitis, the clock could be ticking down to a life-threatening burst. Thus, despite recent research suggesting antibiotics could be an alternative therapy, appendectomy remains standard for uncomplicated appendicitis. But what if removing the...
Tag: <span>Appendix</span>
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The ‘Useless’ Appendix Is More Fascinating Than We Thought
Medscape Medical News Marta Zaraska June 10, 2024 When doctors and patients consider the appendix, it’s often with urgency. In cases of appendicitis, the clock could be ticking down to a life-threatening burst. Thus, despite recent research suggesting antibiotics could be an alternative therapy, appendectomy remains standard for uncomplicated appendicitis. But what if removing the...
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Your appendix is not, in fact, useless. This anatomy professor explains
Selena Simmons-Duffin As an evolutionary anatomist, Heather Smith studies the fossil record of extinct species. Heather SmithIt was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, Ariz. and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family’s upcoming ski trip But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, she realized...
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It started as a ‘weird idea,’ but a new study shows the appendix can initiate Parkinson’s
Asquishy, 4-inch gut organ whose function has baffled anatomists for centuries is about to have its moment of fame: The lowly appendix, scientists reported in a study on Wednesday, can initiate Parkinson’s disease. It does so, they suspect, by serving as a reservoir of misfolded, clumping, neurotoxic proteins that travel to the brainstem via the vagus nerve, which runs from the gut...