The appendix is ​​not an evolutionary remnant. Removal may increase the risk of multiple diseases.

Clinically, acute appendicitis is one of the most common acute abdominal diseases, and the risk of developing acute appendicitis in a person's lifetime is 6.7%-8.6%. In recent years, the incidence of acute appendicitis in my country has been increasing year by year.

At present, laparoscopic appendectomy is still the preferred treatment option for acute appendicitis. However, the appendix is ​​a functional organ, and there is still great controversy about whether to remove it or not. It needs to be viewed scientifically and cannot be "put to rest". Recently, Professor Liu Bingrong, Dean of the Digestive Disease Hospital of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, and his team member Master Song Mingyang published a research review in the international journal "Expert Reviews in Gastroenterology and Hepatology" entitled "The Long-term Effects of Appendectomy on the Human Body". It details the intrinsic relationship and evolution trend of appendectomy with colorectal cancer, cardiovascular disease, gallstones, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease and other diseases, opening a window for people to re-examine the appendix.

Studies have shown that most current studies believe that appendectomy is related to the occurrence of human tumors, including colorectal cancer, esophageal cancer, gastric cancer, lymphoma, etc. A large cohort study of 75,979 cases of appendectomy and 303,640 cases without appendectomy found that the overall incidence of colorectal cancer in those with missing appendix was 14% higher than that in the control group, and this risk was higher 1.5-3.5 years after appendectomy.

Liu Bingrong believes that when encountering cases of acute appendicitis with a higher risk of colorectal cancer (such as low intake of fibrous foods, family history, etc.) in clinical practice, appendectomy should be carefully chosen as the preferred treatment option.

A cohort study that followed 4916 patients who underwent appendectomy and 4916 patients who did not undergo appendectomy for 5 years found that the risk of developing gallstones in patients who underwent appendectomy was 1.79 times higher than that in patients who did not undergo appendectomy, especially in female patients.

Liu Bingrong pointed out that for patients with acute appendicitis who have a higher risk of gallstones (such as family history, high-calorie diet, high-dose estrogen therapy, obesity, etc.), appendectomy should be carefully chosen as the first choice of treatment option.

In his opinion, all human organs are the result of thousands of years of evolution, and the existence of any organ has its natural rationality. Some organs are considered useless because people's understanding is still superficial. Just as people did not know the importance of the lymphatic system a long time ago, humans' current understanding of the human body is far from enough.

"Now more and more experts and scholars are gradually realizing that the appendix is ​​not a useless evolutionary relic, nor is it a redundant organ. It should not be neglected and discarded at will," said Liu Bingrong.