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Tracy Hampton, PhD

JAMA. 2007;298(21):2474.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Contrary to longstanding assumptions, the human appendix may have a useful role in human health, according to scientists at Duke University School of Medicine in Durham, NC. They suggest it may be a "safe house" for commensal bacteria, providing support for their growth and facilitating reinoculation of the colon when the intestinal tract’s contents are purged following exposure to a pathogen (Bollinger RR et al. J Theor Biol. doi: [published online ahead of print September 7, 2007]).

This purging of the intestines seldom occurs today in developed nations due to modern hygiene practices, but in less developed regions of the world, the appendix may still play a role in recovering from diseases such as cholera and dysentery. The authors add that the lack of widespread and potent germs in modern society may cause the immune system to inappropriately attack healthy bacteria stored in the appendix. This . . . [Full Text of this Article]