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 English naturalist who ...

For more than a century, the human appendix has been written off as a biological relic, a shrunken leftover from plant-eating ancestors that serves no real purpose. That view is now outdated. A ...

You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without this organ because it serves no purpose, but how much truth is there in ...

For years, the appendix carried a reputation as the body’s most pointless organ. Doctors often removed it without hesitation, and textbooks labeled it a vestigial structure—something our ancestors ...

Courtney is a registered nurse with over 13 years of experience in the clinical setting, helping individuals navigate their way through their healthcare journeys. She has been in the frontlines ...

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 ...