Long thought to be a useless remnant of a larger structure in the human anatomy, the appendix is more likely a helpful aid to gastrointestinal well-being. By storing beneficial bacteria, the appendix can can repopulate a gut depleted of good bacteria by disease.

Researchers from Duke University Medical Center, Arizona State University, and the University of Arizona contend that immune system cells in the appendix protect beneficial bacteria until they are needed in the intestinal tract. In industrialized societies with good hygiene and sanitation, the need for the appendix to release stored bacteria is less frequent than in countries without modern sanitation and endemic diarrhea-causing disease. This "hygiene hypothesis" has supported the fact that removing the appendix has no negative impact on the body.

The newfound understanding of the organ's purpose may lead to prevention of appendicitis in the future.

News source: http://www.emaxhealth.com/1275/34/33054/human-appendix-not-useless-organ.html