In “The Descent of Man,” he described the appendix as a vestige: a leftover from plant-eating ancestors with larger digestive organs. For more than a century, that interpretation shaped both textbook ...

For more than a century, the human appendix has been written off as a biological relic, a shrunken leftover from plant-eating ancestors that serves no real purpose. That view is now outdated. A ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without ...

It was the first day of spring break in 1992 in Phoenix, Ariz. 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 ...

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Colbert is away from late-night TV following emergency surgery last week — the comedian's appendix burst. That made us wonder: What does the appendix do for our body? And why are ...

Appendicitis is not an inherited condition, but genetics may play a role. However, the cause of appendicitis is often unclear. Appendicitis refers to inflammation of the appendix. An infection may ...

Just when we thought we had enough on our medical to-do list-Pap smears, mammograms, cholesterol checks, stress management, hydration, posture-now we're hearing that appendix cancer is on the rise?

Though still rare, this cancer is becoming more common — and, experts say, part of a concerning trend. Cases of appendix cancer have gone up 300 to 400 percent for Gen Xers and millennials compared ...