Campidoctor
Was the Appendix originally a suicide mechanism?
I was thinking about this the other day.
Do you think the Appendix was a suicide mechanism. Just think about it, a long time ago they didnt have surgury so you just hoped you got better (like in stone age times). So if you got a blow to the abdomen powerful enough to puncture the apendix, chances are you've screwed up other things and probably wont live much longer. So would the appendix speed up the death so you dont have to suffer?
Remember I'm basing this on NOTHING.
Tyler
1-600-DOCTORB
Re: Was the Appendix originally a suicide mechanism?
tnick,
Appendix problems (namely appendicitis) are not due to physical trauma to the appendix, but rather blockage of it by fecal material, with subsequent bacterial infection. If you imagine your intestines as a roadway, the appendix is like a small offramp connected to it. When fecal material is going down the road, sometimes it can get lodged in the offramp and block it, making it a nice little pocket for bacteria to grow.
The appendix is located just below the start of the large intestine, and is thus in a fairly inaccessible place in terms of physical injury. The danger of appendicitis is that, once infected, the appendix becomes inflamed and can burst, releasing bacteria into the peritoneal cavity. This space is normally sterile, and thus a general release of bacteria into it leads to peritonitis, which is a very dangerous and frequently life-threatening situation. Hope this helps.
"In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?"
-The Isa Upanishad
"There once was a man John McCain,
Who had the whole White House to gain.
But he was quite a hobbyist
at boning his lobbyist.
And there goes his '08 campaign."
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Under the kind patronage of Seneca
Campidoctor
Re: Was the Appendix originally a suicide mechanism?
ahh thanks
doe s it sere any real purpose?
1-600-DOCTORB
Re: Was the Appendix originally a suicide mechanism?
No, it's vestigial. It has some lymphoid tissue (i.e. collections of immune cells), but thousands of people have them removed every year with no ill effects. The loss of lymphoid cells doesn't seem to make people more susceptible to infection (something which has been found to possibly be a problem with removing tonsils, another very common surgery).Originally Posted by tnick777
"In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?"
-The Isa Upanishad
"There once was a man John McCain,
Who had the whole White House to gain.
But he was quite a hobbyist
at boning his lobbyist.
And there goes his '08 campaign."
-Stephen Colbert
Under the kind patronage of Seneca
Physicist
Re: Was the Appendix originally a suicide mechanism?
Herbivores use their appendices to help digest the vast quantities of grass they consume. The theory is that our appendix is a throwback to the days when we had to eat plantlife in a far more unprocessed form than we do today (i.e. before farming)
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