The Function of Human Appendix - Page 1

Gastrointestinal Tract

A possible function of the human appendix is a "safe house" for beneficial bacteria in the recovery from diarrhea. Although it has been long accepted that the immune tissue surrounding the appendix and elsewhere in the gut -- called gut associated lymphoid tissue -- carries out a number of important functions, explanations were lacking for the distinctive shape of the appendix and its apparent lack of specific importance and function as judged by an absence of side effects following appendectomy.