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No, Seriously, What’s the Deal with Our Appendix?

We may finally have an answer.

Katrina Paulson
5 min readJul 21, 2022
Photo by julien Tromeur on Unsplash

I’ve been fascinated by the human body for as long as I can remember, and it amazes me how many mysteries our bodies hold. We recently learned about the connection between our brain and gut and its impact on our physical and mental health. But we aren’t even close to understanding how the mind works, where it’s located, or even if it’s independent of our physical body.

I mean, even our organs contain untold secrets. Do you remember when I told you about the new organ experts discovered within our skin? And, of course, the classic ongoing mystery of our appendix. At least for this one, scientists finally have some answers to our biggest questions. Why do we have one? What does the appendix do? And how come we can live without it?

What is the Appendix?

Your appendix looks like a tube about the size and shape of your finger. It’s located on the lower-right side of your abdomen and connects to a small pouch-like organ called the cecum (I’ll mention this later, too), which is thought to be the beginning of your large intestine and digestive tract. Though your appendix isn’t involved with digestion.

Appendicitis is when the appendix must be surgically removed after becoming inflamed or infected…

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Katrina Paulson
Katrina Paulson

Written by Katrina Paulson

I write about recent discoveries that have the power to shift our perspectives. Check it out! --> https://curiousadventure.substack.com

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