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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 ...

We are all born with an appendix. But we can quite easily live, and function well, without it. Many of us have it surgically removed – as I have done. For years, the appendix has been considered a ...

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 ...

In the United States, 1 in 15 people get appendicitis. Even though I was aware of this staggering statistic, I still never thought anything would happen to my sacred appendix… until it did. After a ...

A. Most people never think about their appendix – until it's causing them severe pain. The appendix is a small, finger-shaped pouch attached to the start of the large intestine on the lower right side ...

You may have heard that astronauts have their appendix removed before leaving Earth. After all, people say you can live without this organ because it serves no purpose, but how much truth is there in ...

If you were pressed to name body parts that you could do without, odds are good that the appendix would make what’s (hopefully) a short list. It’s a bit of a troublemaker, this testy tube of tissue ...

I often experience pain in my lower-right side of my abdomen, and I suspect it is appendicitis. I plan to visit my gastroenterologist soon, but there is a nagging fear that my appendix might burst.