If the appendix is ​​removed, it is disturbed in the body. Do we need an appendix. Appendix - a repository of beneficial bacteria

What can the removal of appendicitis lead to? and got the best answer

Answer from Illusion [guru]
Now the dirt will not collect, and you will be without dirt!

Answer from Danil Ushakov[expert]
Why is this nonsense in the top answers?


Answer from Noldor77777[master]
The appendix, the vermiform appendix, the cecum - all these are the names of one reductive appendix, which a person inherited "but inherited" from his more ancient ancestors. The appendix has a clot of lymphatic tissue in its place of localization and performs a function similar to that of the lymph nodes (immune). However, when it is removed, the immune system does not suffer in any way. the load is taken on by the neighboring lymph nodes, the operation is absolutely safe and usually proceeds without complications, in rare cases, adhesions may form after the operation, but I repeat that this happens very rarely. You can rest assured that after the removal of the appendix, your body will not suffer in any way.


Answer from Olga[guru]
... to the fact that peritonitis will not be his fault !! And since he is an immune organ, the immunity may decrease a little, so you are vitamins !!))


Answer from Master master[guru]
The appendix is ​​the most unnecessary part of the body !!! It does not carry any functions, one harm from it! Can make itself felt at the most inopportune moment!
When traveling, on vacation, etc.


Answer from Ekaterina Malofeeva[guru]
it was once needed, but now it is attvism, which is clogged with slags, so it has no special purpose, and now all waste will simply leave the body


Answer from Cat[guru]
to a two-week diet on semolina


Answer from Camille Volzhsky[guru]
Straight outward ....


Answer from 3 answers[guru]

Why does the body need a small appendage in the intestine, which scientists once recognized as useless? Why store something that is so easily inflamed and brought a person into the operating room? Maybe it's easier to remove the appendix right away? For clarification, we turned to the therapist Alexandra Viktorovna Kosova, who prepared this article for the ABC of Health.

Why does a person need an appendix?

Appendix (synonym - appendix) is an appendage of the cecum, extending from its posterolateral wall.

Rice. 1. Large intestine with appendix.

The appendix has a cylindrical shape, the length is, on average, 8-10 cm, although it is shortened to 3 cm, sometimes it increases to 20 cm. The absence of the appendix is ​​very rare. The diameter of the entrance hole of the appendix is ​​1-2 mm.

The position of the appendage can be different (see Fig. 2), but the place of discharge from the cecum remains constant.

Fig. 2. The position of the appendix relative to the cecum.

The appendix is ​​present only in mammals, however, not in all. For example, sheep, horses, rabbits have it. And cows, dogs and cats don't have it. And if there is no appendage, there is no appendicitis (inflammation of the appendix). In horses, the appendix is ​​very large (see Fig. 3), it is an important link in the digestive system: in it, the coarse parts of plants (bark, tough stems) are carefully digested.

Rice. 3. The appendix in a horse.

Remove appendix for ... prevention of appendicitis

A small appendix in humans, although it is part of the gastrointestinal tract, does not take part in the process of digestion. And the risk of developing appendicitis remains. has always been and remains one of the most common surgical diseases of the abdominal cavity. That is why scientists of the last century came to the conclusion: it is necessary to remove the appendix for prophylactic purposes.

In general, the conclusions of the scientists of the XIX-XX centuries were so quick and, if I may say so, superficial that those organs for which they did not find use in the human body were declared rudimentary and had to be removed. "Rudimentum" from Latin means an underdeveloped, residual organ, which in the process of evolution has lost its original function, but in its embryonic state passes from ancestors to descendants. This direction of scientific thought was largely facilitated by the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin (1809 - 1882), according to which variability, as the cause of differences between ancestors and descendants, is due to the influence of the external environment and the characteristics of the organisms themselves. In other words, the appendix no longer fulfills its digestive function, because on the ladder of evolution, man has risen a step higher than his predecessors - animals (according to Charles Darwin's theory, man descended from an animal), and the human digestive system began to differ from that of animals. Therefore, the appendix began to be considered a dangerous rudiment that can cause a formidable disease - appendicitis.

In many countries, various methods have begun to be introduced into practice. prevention of appendicitis... For example, in Germany in the 30s of the last century, as a preventive measure, babies decided to have their appendices removed. But this was soon abandoned, because it was noticed that these children had a decrease in immunity, an increase in the number of diseases and, as a result, an increase in mortality.

A similar sad experience was in the United States. Americans began to remove appendixes from babies. After the operation, such children were unable to digest breast milk, and lagged behind in mental and physical development. It was concluded that such disorders are associated with impaired digestion, a determining factor in normal growth and development. Therefore, the Americans abandoned this method of preventing appendicitis.

Scientists of the XIX-XX centuries attributed many organs to rudiments, the functions of which they could not determine: tonsils (tonsils is a wrong name, from a medical point of view), thymus (thymus gland), spleen, etc. At the beginning of the XX century, scientists counted about 180 rudimentary "Useless" organs and anatomical structures in the human body. Nobel laureate Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov (1845 - 1916) believed that the human digestive system is poorly adapted to the modern diet. He expressed this idea at the beginning of the 20th century, when the idea of ​​poisoning the body with the waste products of putrefactive bacteria living in the large intestine was widespread. That is why it is not surprising that in "Etudes on Nature" I.I. Mechnikov wrote: "Now there is nothing daring in the assertion that not only the cecum with its appendage, but even all human large intestines are superfluous in our body and that their removal would lead to very desirable results."

British surgeon of the early 20th century, Baronet Sir William Arbuthnot Lane, in contrast to I.I. Mechnikov did not confine himself only to speculations about the negative role of the large intestine in the human body. He removed the entire colon (and with it the putrefactive bacteria). The surgeon performed about 1,000 of these operations, "leaving untold numbers of victims," ​​the researchers write. And only in the 30s. XX century, the activities of W. Lane began to be criticized.

What now?

Currently, scientists believe that it is time to abolish the list of "useless" organs, because years of research show that previously called vestigial organs perform an important function, and sometimes more than one. According to biologists, the appendix persists and evolves for at least 80 million years. Nature would not leave an unnecessary organ. Perhaps it is worth replacing the list of "unnecessary" organs with a list of organs whose functions are not yet known to us?

The appendix is ​​an important organ of the immune system

A more detailed study of the appendix revealed an abundance of lymphoid tissue- tissue that provides the protective capacity of the immune system. Lymphoid tissue accounts for 1% of a person's body weight. In lymphoid tissue, lymphocytes and plasma cells are formed - the main cells that protect the human body from infection and fight it if it does get inside. Lymphoid tissue is distributed in the body in the form of lymphoid organs: lymph nodes, spleen, thymus gland (thymus), tonsils, Peyer's patches in the digestive tract. A particularly large number of Peyer's patches are found in the appendix. It is not for nothing that the appendix is ​​called "intestinal tonsil" (tonsils, like the appendix, are rich in lymphoid tissue - see fig.).

Fig. 4. Lymphoid tissue in the digestive tract:

1 - serous membrane (covers the intestines from the outside);

2 - muscular layer (middle layer of the intestine);

3 - mucous membrane (inner layer of the intestine);

4 - the mesentery of the small intestine (anatomical structure in which the vessels and nerves approach the intestine);

5 - solitary lymphoid nodules;

6 - group lymphoid nodule (Peyer's patch),

7 - circular folds of the mucous membrane.

Rice. 5. Cross section of the appendix (histological specimen). Hematoxylin-eosin staining.

1 - numerous depressions (crypts) in the mucous membrane of the appendix;

2 - lymphatic follicles (Peyer's patches);

3 - interfollicular lymphoid tissue.

Rice. 6. Microscopic structure of the tonsil:

1 - tonsil crypts;

2 - integumentary epithelium;

3 - lymphoid nodules of the tonsil.

In other words, the appendix has a very powerful lymphatic apparatus. The cells produced by the lymphoid tissue of the appendix are involved in defense reactions against genetically foreign substances, which is especially important when you consider that the digestive tract is a channel through which foreign substances constantly enter. Peyer's patches (accumulation of lymphoid tissue) in the intestine and, in particular, in the appendix "stand" like guards at the border.

So, it is definitely proven that the appendix is ​​a very important organ of the immune system.

Appendix - a repository of beneficial bacteria

In 2007, Duke University Medical Center (Durham, North Carolina, USA) published an article stating that the appendix is ​​a repository of beneficial bacteria ("Appendix isn't useless at all: it's a safe house for good bacteria") ...

The human intestine contains microorganisms involved in digestion. Most of them are useful (E. coli, bifidobacteria, lactobacilli), and some are conditionally pathogenic, which cause illness only with reduced immunity (nervous stress, physical overload, alcohol intake, etc.). Normally, a balance is maintained between opportunistic and beneficial microorganisms.

With intestinal diseases (for example, dysentery, salmonellosis and many others), accompanied by diarrhea (loose stools), as well as with the activation of conditionally pathogenic microflora, the number of "useful" microorganisms decreases sharply. But in the appendix, as a repository of "good" bacteria, they remain and promote new colonization of the intestine after recovery and cessation of diarrhea. In people without an appendix, after an intestinal infection, dysbiosis develops more often (in comparison with people in whom the appendix is ​​preserved). However, this does not mean that such people are doomed. Currently, there is a group of prebiotics and probiotics that help a person to restore normal intestinal microflora.

The entrance to the appendix, as mentioned above, is only 1-2 mm in diameter, which protects the appendix from the intestinal contents penetrating into it, allowing the appendix to remain a so-called "incubator", "farm" where beneficial microorganisms multiply. That is, the normal microflora of the large intestine is stored in the appendix.

Conclusion

Summing up, there are 2 main functions of the appendix:

1) it is an important organ of the immune system;

2) it is a breeding and storage site for beneficial intestinal bacteria.

The appendix continues to be studied to this day, so it is quite possible that in the near future we will learn its other functions. But even now we can say that it is not necessary to remove the appendix without a good reason. And this reason is the inflammation of the appendix - acute appendicitis. In this case, it is necessary to remove the appendix, because the risk of complications and their severity are very high. Earlier, when epidemics were frequent, and the drug market is relatively small, the role of the appendix was extremely significant. Now the disturbed microflora can be restored with the help of drugs. Yes, and acute appendicitis often affects people 10-30 years old, and their immune system is stronger than that of American and German babies.

Therefore, if you experience symptoms of acute appendicitis, you should immediately consult a doctor!

therapist A.V. Kosovo

Even children probably know what appendicitis is. Maybe that's why they are not particularly afraid of him - well, they will cut it out and that's it. But a hundred years ago people were dying of appendicitis, and when surgeons learned how to operate on it, it was a great achievement of medical science.

“Appendicitis occurs when a special organ of the human body becomes inflamed - the appendix, or in Latin - the appendix, which means“ appendage, ”says surgeon Denis Kovalev. - The appendix is ​​located at the very beginning of the cecum.

It is a narrow, winding tube about six centimeters long, which at one end opens into the lumen of the cecum, and the other end is closed. It turns out that the appendix is ​​indeed some kind of awkward appendage - who needs a gut that does not lead anywhere?

As an "extra" organ, the appendix was treated for a long time. The founder of immunology I. Mechnikov believed that the process does not perform any useful function. The scientist reasoned this way: firstly, the removal of the appendix does not affect the physiological functions of a person, and secondly, in old age it often completely atrophies.

But today the appendix has become more and more respectful of itself. In the submucous layer of its walls, scientists have found a large number of lymphatic follicles that protect the intestines from infection and cancer. For the abundance of lymphoid tissue, the appendix is ​​even sometimes called the "intestinal tonsil".

This is a comparison that does not lame: if the tonsils in the pharynx are a barrier to infection, tearing into the respiratory tract, then the appendix "inhibits" microbes that try to multiply in the contents of the intestine. New data forced doctors to change their attitude to the removal of the appendix.

Our country has passed this fad, but even 15 years ago, a rare American newborn left the hospital, retaining his appendix: overseas doctors believed that from "useless" and "dangerous" organs (apart from the appendix, they included the foreskin and tonsils) you need to get rid of it as early as possible ...

Unfortunately, everyone can get an inflamed appendix. The only condition for this is to be human, because animals simply do not have such an organ. The most "fruitful" age for appendicitis is thirty to forty years. And one more thing: the appendages are twice as likely to fail women than men.

With appendicitis, timely surgery ensures recovery for almost everyone; sad results occur only with severe complications - no more than 0.02-0.4% of cases.

Scientists still argue about the direct causes of appendicitis. Everyone agrees that pathogens settle and actively multiply in the appendix, but there is no special pathogen "special" for appendicitis.

However, observations show that appendicitis is more threatening to those who prefer meat food (it causes stagnation in the intestines and promotes decay and fermentation), and in children, worms are capable of pushing the process to inflammation.

Some scientists believe that appendicitis can develop if the body has foci of chronic inflammation (carious teeth, inflamed tonsils). Lymphoid tissue of the appendix can also "rush to the embrasure" of the fight against infection, which results in appendicitis.

And for any prolonged abdominal pain (and not necessarily on the left), you need to go to the hospital. The examination will be quick: doctors will need to find out what is the content of inflammatory cells in the blood - leukocytes. If their number reaches twenty thousand per microliter (at a rate of four to nine thousand), the likelihood of appendicitis is high. If any doubts remain, ultrasound will resolve them.

Now appendicitis is rarely operated on under local anesthesia: although it doesn’t hurt, it’s scary. Doctors say: a person should not be present at his operation, and therefore they prefer general anesthesia with a mask.

The operation for appendicitis - appenectomy - is well developed and usually lasts fifteen to twenty minutes. It is not worth trying to have the most experienced professor perform the operation: here the qualifications of an ordinary surgeon will be enough. There is no other treatment other than surgical treatment for appendicitis.

Usually, recovery after appendectomy occurs quickly: the stitches are removed from the skin after seven to eight days, and ten to twelve days after the operation, patients are discharged home. However, it will be early to go to work: in the clinic, the sick leave will be extended to three weeks, since a certain period of time is required for full recovery.

By the way, you shouldn't use your sick leave to do a bunch of chores around the house. Better to arrange a vacation from worries and pamper yourself with peace.

In the future, the absence of an appendix does not threaten any troubles: it is not needed for digestion, and its role in the body's immune defense will be assumed by other organs of the immune system. "

The appendix in humans is a rudimentary organ that has lost its original function in the process of evolution. But American researchers said they knew its true purpose.

It is widely believed in the world that a small process of the cecum, called the appendix, is an absolutely superfluous organ. Proponents of this belief argue this by the fact that people who have had appendicitis removed by surgeons do not feel its absence and continue to live a full life. But scientists from the Duke University Medical Center do not entirely agree with this, claiming that the appendix is ​​a safe storehouse for beneficial bacteria that help a person quickly restore effective bowel function after suffering from dysentery or cholera.

At the same time, Professor Bill Parker, who participated in the study, believes that the conclusions made by scientists do not mean that people should now preserve this organ at any cost. “You need to understand that in case of appendicitis, the inflamed organ should be removed, and not try to leave it, risking your own life. And then, having learned that the appendix actually has a rather important function, some may endure acute pain, so long as the doctor does not send it for surgery. This, of course, should not be allowed, ”said Professor Parker.

Nicholas Vardaxis, associate professor of medicine at the Royal Institute of Technology in Melbourne, believes the theory put forward by his American colleagues makes sense. “I believe that there really should be a place in the body for such beneficial bacteria to be stored. But it must be borne in mind that in the process of evolution, the human body has improved, and the size of the appendix has decreased. And, probably, the bacteria that we once needed to ensure the normal functioning of the intestines in primitive conditions are no longer needed in such quantities. Therefore, they can, of course, be stored in the appendix of the cecum, but do they really have such a strong effect on the work of the body, given that the body performs all the necessary functions even without the appendix, ”the scientist muses.

For example, writes the PBS resource, Vardaxis compared the human appendix to the koala's appendix, which is a rather large process and helps the animal to digest eucalyptus leaves. The daily diet of a marsupial bear almost entirely consists of them. "Now the appendix is ​​needed by the koala in this form, but if you dream up and imagine that animals will start mutating and eat other food, then it is possible that their appendix will eventually turn into a rudimentary organ, and koalas, as people, will suffer from appendicitis," - suggested Nicholas Vardaxis.

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