appendix and bacteria

I found this article on cnn.com. They say that they have found the purpose of the apppendix and that it has to do with providing and houseing good bacteria for the colon. Interesting article.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/10/05/appendix.purpose.ap/index.html

I read this too, wonder if UC'ers have a bum appendix to add to the the list. :p

I just read that too -- very interesting.

---

Carol

Remicade - will have my 19th infusion on November 1.

I remember reading somewhere that people with their appendix taken out had a lower risk for UC in general? 

---

Diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis 6/2006 at age 26 after sudden E.R. visit

Huh...I wonder why having your appendix removed would lower the risk of UC, you'd think it would make it higher since there is a connection of bad bacterial over-growth and IBD and since having an appendix is suppose to help with good bacteria then it doesn't make sense that not having one would reduce the risk for UC.


:)

---

My bum is broken....there's a big crack down the middle of it!  LOL  :)

I've been out of town for the weekend and when I watched the morning news it had that story. I think that maybe we all have bad appendixes then! Just not enough to cause appendicitis (in most). I noticed that in the article it also mentioned the same thing about tonsils. How the tonsils have anything to do with gut bacteria is beyond me but I do know that tonsils help filter viruses, bacteria etc from causing infections in our throats and sinuses. So I wonder why they say that tonsils are useless organs? I used to get a ton of sinus infections, strep throat, tonsilitis, pharyngitis etc until I had my tonsils yanked - then all the infections stopped because I (and the docs) believed that the tonsils were harboring the bad stuff instead of filtering. So maybe our appendixes are doing the same thing, maybe they are now defunct and instead of managing the good bacteria are now collecting the bad? I'm just wondering "aloud" here.

---

I would be curious to see how many people who have had appendectomies still have UC... or came down with UC after they had their appendixes removed.

---

Current Medications:

I had just been diagnosed with UC and didn't know much about it (back in 1993).  I had just started taking Pentasa and was only on it for a few days when I had appendicitis.  My appendix burst, and let me tell you that  s painful!!  After I had it out, the UC stopped, I stopped taking any medicine and went on for seven years without a recurrence.  However, I've had flares on and off now for the past five years, but never any bleeding until this last one.  So yes, you can have UC even if you've had your appendix out, but maybe there's less of a chance of UC occurring for the first time if a person has had their appendix out. 

---

- 45 year old; female

Aiiieeee!

I have never had any appendix problems, but did suffer a lot from strep throat as a teenager, and have had many throat issues, still have my tonsils.

---