As it turns out, the long-overlooked appendix may do some pretty important jobs keeping us healthy.
The big picture: A new analysis from Epic Research indicates the appendix may help individuals fight off a common and potentially deadly gastrointestinal infection.
These and other recent findings have researchers looking at ways to treat appendicitis without completely removing the organ, Heather Smith, a professor of anatomy at Midwestern University, recently told NPR.
The latest: Epic researchers examined data from over 57,000 patients who had their appendix removed between 2010 and 2021.
Their risk of infection from Clostridioides difficile, orC. diff, more than doubled.
The correlation was slightly stronger in males, the study found.
