Four Readings on the Appendix Appendix not useless after all: scientists Last Updated: Monday, October 8, 2007 | 2:07 PM ET CBC News 1)After decades under a label that marked it as superfluous, the appendix may finally be able to justify its existence. Doctors at Duke University Medical School found the appendix protects beneficial bacteria living in the human gut. 5)The pair found that a biofilm, a thin layer of microbes, mucous and immune system molecules lining the intestines, protects the bacteria in the appendix. 6)The appendix "acts as a good safe house for 2)The study, published last week in the online Journal of Theoretical Biology, found the appendix works to repopulate bacteria that help digest food after a disease such as cholera or dysentery wipes it out. bacteria," said Parker. The location of the appendix just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of gut cul-de-sac helps support the theory, he said. 7)The organ outgrowth acts like a bacteria factory, 3)"While there is no smoking gun, the abundance of circumstantial evidence makes a strong case for the role of the appendix as a place where the good bacteria can live safe and undisturbed until they are needed," said Duke surgery professor William Parker, in a press release. cultivating the good germs, Parker said. 8)"Once the bowel contents have left the body, the good bacteria hidden away in the appendix can emerge and repopulate the lining of the intestine before more harmful bacteria can take up residence," Parker said. 4)Parker conducted the analysis in collaboration with Duke surgery professor R. Randal Bollinger. 9)He said the appendix is not really needed in a modern society because people are able to pick up the needed germs from other people, so there are few negative effects if it is removed. With files from the Associated Press What does the appendix do? finally an answer! Miscellaneous News Published: Monday, 8-Oct-2007 1)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 function, does it seems have a role to play after all. intestines as in diseases such as cholera or dysentery. 5)According to the researchers, the appendix's job is to "reboot" the digestive system when that happens with the bacteria safely harbored in the appendix. 2)Researchers in the United States say the appendix produces and protects good germs for the gut by "rebooting" the digestive system. 3)The team of immunologists at Duke University Medical Center say the human digestive system contains massive amounts of bacteria most of which are good and help the digestion of food. 4)However the researchers say sometimes the 6)Many doctors believe the appendix is a vestigial organ with no function and is no more than a blind ended tube connected to the cecum, from which it develops embryologically. 7)The cecum is a pouch-like structure of the colon and the appendix is near the junction of the small intestine and the large intestine and has abundant infection-fighting lymphoid cells, bacteria die off or are purged from the 1 which suggests it plays a role in the immune system. 8)The most common diseases of the appendix (in humans) are appendicitis and carcinoid tumors. Appendix cancer accounts for about 1 in 200 of all gastrointestinal malignancies. 9)Appendicitis is a condition where the the appendix becomes inflamed and in almost all cases it is removed either by laparotomy or laparoscopy; left untreated, the appendix will rupture, leading to peritonitis, then shock, and, if continued untreated, death. scientists stress that even though the appendix seems to have a function, people should still have them removed when they are inflamed because since leaving it untreated could be fatal. 11)Dr. Bill Parker, a professor of surgery and one of the scientists responsible for establishing its status as a useful organ, says the function of the appendix seems related to the massive amount of bacteria that populates the human digestive system and where it is located just below the normal one-way flow of food and germs in the large intestine, helps support that theory. 10)The appendix is routinely removed without any notable ill effects or side effects and the The study appears in the online edition of the Journal of Theoretical Biology. The Appendix Protects Us From Germs And Protects Good Bacteria Editor's Choice Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology News Article Date: 09 Oct 2007 - 0:00 PDT 12)The appendix most likely is there to protect us from bad germs by creating and protecting good germs, say scientists from Duke University Medical Center, USA. Most doctors and scientists have believed that the appendix was a redundant organ - serving no purpose at all. 13)You can read about this latest study in the Journal of Theoretical Biology. 14)After assessing several experiments and observations, the scientists believe that the good bacteria in the appendix that help our digestion can survive a bout of diarrhea that cleans out our gut, and appear to repopulate the gut. however, we have known that it contains immune system tissue. 17)Different microbes that help the digestive system break down foods inhabit the gut. The gut rewards these microbes by feeding them and keeping them safe. The scientists believe that the immune system cells located in the appendix have the function of protecting the good bacteria. 18)William Parker, Ph.D., and team have been observing the interplay of these bacteria in the intestines. They have documented the existence in the bowel of a biofilm - it is a thin and delicate layer of microbes, mucous and immune system molecules living together on the lining of the gut. 15)The authors explained "While there is no smoking gun, the abundance of circumstantial evidence makes a strong case for the role of the appendix as a place where the good bacteria can live safe and undisturbed until they are needed." 16)The appendix is located near to where the large and small intestines meet; it is a slender pouch about two to four inches long. Its exact function has been a topic of debate by doctors - 19)The authors explain "Our studies have indicated that the immune system protects and nourishes the colonies of microbes living in the biofilm. By protecting these good microbes, the harmful microbes have no place to locate. We have also shown that biofilms are most pronounced in the appendix and their prevalence decreases moving away from it." 2 20)Parker said "Diseases causing severe diarrhea are endemic in countries without modern health and sanitation practices, which often results in the entire contents of the bowels, including the biofilms, being flushed from the body." Because of the location of the appendix, it would be fairly difficult for anything to enter it as the bowels are emptied. hypothesis speculates that 'hygienic' societies have a higher incidence of autoimmune disease and allergy because their immune systems have not been challenged during everyday life by the ever so many parasites and other disease causing microbes found in normal environments. These hygienic society immune systems over-react when they are challenged. 21)Parker adds "Once the bowel contents have left 23)Parker explained "This over-reactive immune the body, the good bacteria hidden away in the appendix can emerge and repopulate the lining of the intestine before more harmful bacteria can take up residence. In industrialized societies with modern medical care and sanitation practices, the maintenance of a reserve of beneficial bacteria may not be necessary. This is consistent with the observation that removing the appendix in modern societies has no discernable negative effects." system may lead to the inflammation associated with appendicitis and could lead to the obstruction of the intestines that causes acute appendicitis. Thus, our modern health care and sanitation practices may account not only for the lack of a need for an appendix in our society, but also for much of the problems caused by the appendix in our society." 22)Scientists had indicated many decades ago that people in industrialized nations may have a higher rate of appendicitis because of the "hygiene hypothesis", Parker commented. This 24)As a direct examination of the function of the appendix would have been extremely difficult, Parker decided to carry out a deductive study. Rabbits, opossums and wombats are the only other animals, apart from humans, that are known to have appendices - their appendices are quite different from the human's. "Biofilms in the large bowel suggest an apparent function of the human vermiform appendix" Journal of Theoretical Biology R. Randal Bollinger, Andrew S. Barbas, Errol L. Bush, Shu S. Lin and William Parker Link to web page where a PDF can be downloaded (must be purchased) Written by: Christian Nordqvist Copyright: Medical News Today Not to be reproduced without permission of Medical News Today Your appendix ... it’s there for a reason Creation Archive > Volume 20 Issue 1 > Your appendix ... it’s there for a reason First published: Creation 20(1):41–42 December 1997 by Ken Ham and Carl Wieland 1)If you put your trust in evolutionary based publications like the 1997 Encyclopædia Britannica, you would think of your appendix this way: 2)The appendix does not serve any useful purpose as a digestive organ in humans, and it is believed to be gradually disappearing in the human species over evolutionary time. 1 4)The appendix is not generally credited with significant function; however, current evidence tends to involve it in the immunologic mechanism.2 5)And in a 1995 medical textbook, the authors are emphatic about the function of the appendix: 6)The mucosa and submucosa of the appendix 3)However, even in 1976 medical textbooks were beginning to admit the appendix had functions: are dominated by lymphoid nodules, and its primary function is as an organ of the lymphatic system.3 3 7)Despite this, many public school texts still continue indoctrinating people in the idea that the appendix is great evidence that man evolved. An evolutionist had the following testimony put into the record of the historic 1925 Tennessee Scopes Trial:4 8)There are, according to Wiedersheim, no less than 180 vestigal [sic] structures in the human body, sufficient to make of a man a veritable walking museum of antiquities. Among these [is] the vermiform appendix . These and numerous other structures of the same sort can be reasonably interpreted as evidence that man has descended from ancestors in which these organs were functional. Man has never completely lost these characters; he continues to inherit them though he no longer has any use for them.5 14)It has a created function, but we don’t know what it is yet. 15)Evidence of function 16)Today, the appendix is recognized as a highly specialized organ with a rich blood supply. This is not what we would expect from a degenerate, useless structure. 17)The appendix contains a high concentration of lymphoid follicles. These are highly specialized structures which are a part of the immune system. The clue to the appendix’s function is found in its strategic position right where the small bowel meets the large bowel or colon. The colon is loaded with bacteria which are useful there, but which must be kept away from other areas such as the small bowel and the bloodstream. 9)Thus, at one time evolutionists postulated there were 180 vestigial (functionless) structures (including the appendix) in the human body. Today this list has shrunk to virtually none. Imagine asking a doctor in 1925 to remove all these ‘functionless’ structures from your body! 10)Sadly, those brainwashed by the evolutionary idea that the appendix (and other organs) had no function included many Christians. This is yet another example of Christians being influenced by man’s theories outside the Bible. As the Bible is a revelation from the One who is infinite in knowledge and wisdom, then all of our thinking in every area should start with God’s Word. 18)Through the cells in these lymphoid follicles, and the antibodies they make (see box below), the appendix is ‘involved in the control of which essential bacteria come to reside in the caecum and colon in neonatal life’.6 Like the very important thymus gland in our chest, it is likely that the appendix plays its major role in early childhood. It is also probably involved in helping the body recognize early in life that certain foodstuffs, bacterially derived substances, and even some of the body’s own gut enzymes, need to be tolerated and not seen as ‘foreign’ substances needing attack.Why is the appendix so susceptible to disease? 19)If the appendix is a specially designed organ 11)Thinking Biblically about the appendix 12)Let’s assume that modern science knew of no function for the appendix. Would that show it was a useless left-over from our past evolution from the animals? Not at all. There would be at least two other possibilities, when our thinking is based upon the Bible: with a function, why do so many people suffer from appendicitis, which requires the appendix to be urgently removed to prevent death? 20)Answer: 21)Death, disease, and degeneration from original perfection are all a part of the curse on a onceperfect creation. They do not reflect on the suitability of the original design. 13)It had a created function in people originally, but as a result of the Curse (consequent upon Adam’s sin) on all creation, humanity has degenerated. Thus, our body has lost some functions which it once had. Evolution requires a gain in information—new structures, new functions. 22)In addition, it is clear that appendicitis is only common in countries where a very highly refined modern diet is eaten. Where people eat a high proportion of vegetables, fruit and unrefined cereals, (in other words, have a high fibre diet), appendicitis is actually very rare. The original ‘Genesis diet’ for which we were designed7 was obviously much more like that. 4 23)But if it has a function, why can it be removed and ashes’ when he realized how much he didn’t know. without ill effects? 29)We were not there to see Creation. We do not 24)Our body has been brilliantly designed, with plenty in reserve, and the ability for some organs to take over the function of others. Thus there are a number of organs which everybody agrees have a definite function, but we can still cope without them. Some examples: know everything. In fact, we know almost nothing compared to the infinite amount there is to know. So how could humans, with such limited knowledge, ever have dogmatically stated ‘the appendix is functionless’? It is impossible in principle to prove something has no function—without infinite knowledge. 25)Your gall bladder has a definite function—it stores bile from the liver, and squirts it into the intestine as required to help with the digestion of fat. However, it can be removed and the body will cope—for instance, by secreting more bile continuously. 26)You can cope with having a kidney out, because there is still enough kidney tissue left in the other one. (In the same way, a part of the Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue, which includes the appendix, can be removed, and the remaining lymphoid tissue will usually be enough to carry on the total function). You won’t suffer from having your thymus out (if you’re an adult), because this extremely important gland, which ‘educates’ your immune cells when you are very young, is then no longer required. This is likely to be very relevant to the appendix. 30)So-called ‘facts’ for evolution are continually being discarded (though sometimes only deleted from textbooks years later). Numerous people today still believe many of the outdated evolutionary ideas they were taught at school or college, not realizing that even the evolutionists no longer accept them. Making antibodies 31)The appendix, in conjunction with other parts of the body which also contain cells called Blymphocytes, manufactures several types of antibodies: 32)IgA immunoglobulins, involved in surface or mucosal immunity. These are vital in maintaining the protective barrier between the bowel and the bloodstream. 33)IgM and IgG immunoglobulins, which fight 27)Lessons of the appendix 28)1 Corinthians 8:2 says: ‘And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.’ Think about the questions God asked of Job: Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? … Where is the way where light dwelleth? … By what way is the light parted … ? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?8 After many other questions, we read that Job repented in ‘dust invaders via the bloodstream. 34)The appendix is in fact part of the G.A.L.T. (Gut Associated Lymphoid Tissue) system. The lymphoid follicles develop in the appendix at around two weeks after birth, which is the time when the large bowel begins to be colonized with the necessary bacteria. It is likely that its major function peaks in this neonatal period. References and notes New Encyclopædia Britannica, 1:491, 1997. Return to text. Henry L. Bockus, M.D., Gastroenterology, 2:1134–1148 (chapter ‘The Appendix’ by Gordon McHardy), W.B. Saunders Company, Philadelphia, Pennslyvania, 1976. Return to text. Frederic H. Martini, Ph.D., Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology, p. 916, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1995. Return to text. Sometimes known as the ‘Monkey Trial’. Incidentally, readers should not think that the play/film Inherit the Wind was anything like true depiction of this trial—see Inherit the Wind—An historical analysis. Return to text. The World’s Most Famous Court Trial, Tennessee Evolution Case (A word-for-word report), Bryan College, p. 268, 1990 (reprinted from the original 1925 edition). Return to text. A more detailed survey of the evidence, with numerous references to other technical literature, showing that the appendix is not a vestigial organ can be found in J.W. Glover, The Human Vermiform Appendix—a General Surgeon’s Reflections, CEN Technical Journal, 3:31–38, 1988. Dr Glover is a surgeon in Melbourne, Australia. Return to text. See P. Emerson, ‘Eating out in Eden’, Creation 18(2):10–13, March 1996. Return to text. Job 38:4, 19, 24, 33; Job 42:6. Return to text. 5