It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, and 12-year-old Heather Smith was excited for her family's upcoming ski trip. But before Smith and her family had even packed their snow pants, ...

The evolution of the appendix is a fascinating phenomenon. Learn about the original function of the appendix and why having one may cause more trouble than it’s worth. Most of us are familiar with the ...

According to a new study by researchers at Midwestern University, the appendix might serve an important bodily function. According to the study, led by Heather F. Smith, an associate professor at ...

The human appendix, a narrow pouch that projects off the cecum in the digestive system, has a notorious reputation for its tendency to become inflamed (appendicitis), often resulting in surgical ...

The body's appendix has long been thought of as nothing more than a worthless evolutionary artifact, good for nothing save a potentially lethal case of inflammation. Now researchers suggest the ...

Creationists will have a field day with this one. Turns out that Charles Darwin was wrong about the appendix. Darwin believed the organ didn’t do anything useful, so it might have been vestigial — an ...

For decades, the appendix has been dismissed as a useless organ — a leftover from human evolution with no real function.

Researchers at Duke University Medical Center say that the function of the frequently discarded appendix, an organ often credited with little importance and often dismissed as having no significant ...

The appendix has long had a reputation as a redundant organ with no real function. Doctors often remove it even in mild cases of appendicitis to prevent future infection and rupture, which may not ...

Most of us are familiar with the appendix, that worm-shaped tube at the beginning of the large intestine, even if we can’t remember which side of the abdomen it resides. (Hint: It’s not the left side.