Malaysian Post

Finally, we found out the human appendix has an important function, after all!

Your Health: A not-so-useless appendage

Dr Rajen M.

The appendix could be a vital part of our secondary immune system, according to scientists.

Scientists have finally figured out how your seemingly useless appendix works. It is a “safe warehouse” for those good germs working in your gut.

Indeed, your appendix could be a vital part of your secondary immune system as it could contain immune system tissue.

That is what surgeons and immunologists from the world famous Duke Medical School published online in the scientific journal, The Journal of Theoretical Biology early last month.

For generations, the appendix was dismissed as a useless part of the body. We thought it had no function.

Worse still, it could get infected and inflamed. This could cause lots of problems, including death if not removed in time. Indeed, surgeons removed it routinely.

According to the Centre for Diseases Control, 321,000 Americans were hospitalised with appendicitis in 2005. About 300 to 400 Americans die of appendicitis every year.There are a large number of germs in your gut , about two to three kilogrammes in dry weight. There are 400 different types present there. Indeed, there are more bacteria in your gut than there is in the entire human body.We do not quite know what these germs do. Indeed, not all have been characterised. They are a mix of the good, bad and neutral germs.The good bacteria help you digest your food, break down toxic substances that arise from digestion and produce lactic acids as well as other anti-bacterial substances that keep the bad bugs at bay.The function of the appendix seems to be related to this massive amount of bacteria populating the human digestive system.There are times when the bacteria in the intestine are killed off or purged. Diseases like diarrhoea, cholera or amoebic dysentery would get rid of much of these good bacteria.Similarly, taking water with chorine, antibiotics-tainted meat or going on a course of antibiotics would kill of many of these beneficial bacteria.The appendix’s job is to re-boot the digestive system if this does happen. The appendix would act as a “good safe house for bacteria” wrote Bill Parker, Duke’s Professor of Surgery, a co-author of the study.The location of the appendix — just below the one way flow of food and germs in the large intestine in a sort of cul-de-sac — helps support the theory. It also has a worm like shape. This acts like a “bacterial underground bunker” cultivating the good germs for the rest of the gut.In modern times this is less important, as you can replace the dying good germs with food and supplements. However, in the past, it was not so easy to repopulate the gut with good bacteria. Thus, the appendix came in really handy.

Indeed, in less developed countries, where the appendix is more useful, the rates of appendicitis are much lower as other studies have shown.

Bill Parker says that the appendix may be another case of an overly hygienic society triggering an over reaction of the body’s immune system.

Even, if the appendix does appear to have a function, it must be removed when it is inflamed or infected as it can be deadly, writes Parker.

The Duke proposal for the function of the appendix makes sense and raises some very interesting questions. The idea seems by far the most likely explanation for the function of the appendix. It makes evolutionary sense.

We have evolved for millions of years with this seemingly useless and ugly appendix that can be also be very deadly. Surely, evolution would have eliminated this tissue completely if it was useless and posed a danger.

It should also make us wonder about another part of our body that is conveniently cut off — the tonsils. I bet we will find some use for this part as well.

The moral of the story is: Keep all parts of yourself intact unless it is absolutely necessary to remove them. Trust the wisdom of Nature.

We know that if there were no germs in the gut, you would be dead in just three days.

What do you do if you have had the appendix taken out? Consume more probiotic (friendly bacteria) as food. Take lots of yoghurt and other traditional cultured foods like tapai and tempeh.

If you are supplementing with probiotics, make sure that these are derived locally. That means it comes from local sources.

After all you got your first probiotics from your mother’s vaginal passage and from her nipples. Your gut was sterile while you were in the womb.

After that, you got it in your food. You also picked up useful soil organisms from salads, fruits and simply playing with dirt as all children usually do.

That is how it has been right from the beginning of time. Only in the last 30 or 40 years have we started consuming bacteria that come from different climates and soils.

Imported bacteria are not bad and do not present any real danger to you. However, these germs are best for the guts of people in the countries that they have been imported from be it Japan or North America.

Probiotics are truly a case where “local is better”. Nothing is more local than your gut that has to cope with the unique foods that you get in this part of the world.

The local bacteria will live better and longer in your gut. That would go a long way to making your healthier.

Datuk Dr Rajen M. is a pharmacist with a doctorate in Holistic Medicine

An interest item from the NST today.

Jerry Tay Hock Kee says his skin feels smoother and lighter after each one-hour session at Dr Fish Spa.

MALACCA: Suffering from dry skin? Meet some skin specialists from Turkey who will nibble them off you.

Before you get the wrong idea, these are no ordinary doctors but a rare breed of fish which is creating waves here with their ability to remove dead skin.

This treatment is available at Dr Fish Spa, where customers with dry skin relax in a pool filled with warm water as little Garra Rufa fish numbering in the thousands feed on the dead skin.

“The fish, measuring between two and four centimetres each, are nature’s answer to having smooth, clear and rejuvenated skin,” said Dr Fish Spa owner Cecilia Choong.

Dr Fish Spa opened its doors on Sept 15 last year and within weeks, word of its unique therapy had spread to Kuala Lumpur, Johor and Penang.“I read about the Garra Rufa while surfing the Internet. I enquired about the toothless fish and found that they have been used for hundreds of years in Turkey to combat dry skin problems,” said Choong.She said fish spas had mushroomed in Japan and Korea after news about the Garra Rufa spread.Dr Fish Spa has six pools and hygiene is a priority at all times.

“We change the water after each session and our advanced water filtration system monitors the bacteria, smell and pH levels to ensure the customers get the best and most hygienic spa treatment.”

Each fish “works” at the spa for between nine months and a year. This is because as the fish gets bigger, the stronger is its suction power and this can cause discomfort to some people.

“I had freckles on my face but after allowing Dr Fish to treat me, the freckles turned lighter and are not as visible on my face anymore,” said Choong, adding that the treatment could also lighten skin pigmentation.

“The fish even got rid of my corn and cracked heels.”

One of the spa’s customers, Jerry Tay Hock Kee, 45, said he enjoyed having the fish nibble on his skin as it was not painful.

“The fish are toothless and they use their suction power to remove the dead skin.

“Once I step out of the pool after an one-hour session, I can feel that my skin is lighter and smoother.”

I was having a McValue Meal (Fish) at the IOI outlet a couple of hours ago and something strikes me as odd. In all the pictures of this product I have seen the fish patty and burger is ALWAYS shown with a full slice of cheese. But the one I was eating has only a HALF slice in it.

Thinking back, I realised that for the past few months, the McFillet Burgers has always been served with only half a slice of cheese. I remember it USED to be served with a full slice.

Now don’t get me wrong. I am NOT a cheese fanatic and I do not mind the burger being served with only half a slice. But then shouldn’t the images of the product be shown with only a half slice instead of a full slice?

I’ve ate at a few of their outlets here in Kuala Lumpur and they are all the same; only half a slice whereas the pictures in the advertisement panels show a full slice. Wonder if it is the same throughout the country or even the world?

Can someone clarify whether this constitute false/misleading advertisement?

On a slightly different note but still on the subject of McDonald’s, on one occasion, a small cockroach emerge from under the table just after just after I finished a McFillet Burger. I grabbed my camera a took a couple of shots of the cockroach. A picture of this cockroach is shown below.

Big M should really be more conscious of the cleanliness of its outlets.

Spotted this heart-wrenching story in the Star today.

So, Pfizer, have a heart and spare some small change to ease the pain of a young girl?

Student needs Viagra

BUTTERWORTH: For the past one year, Florentina Usun George has been taking Viagra daily, not for the wrong reason but to treat her ASD Pulmonary Hypertension ailment.

The 21-year-old student of Cosmopoint College in Penang needs two Viagra tablets, at RM40 each, daily to keep her going.

Medical problem: Florentina showing a doctor’s letter stating that she has ASD Pulmonary Hypertension at the Penang Umno complaints bureau in Butterworth yesterday. With her are Linda (left) and Farah.

“Without the medicine, I will experience chest pain, breathing difficulty and (feel) weak. It is really painful and I cannot concentrate on my studies,” said the second-year Computer Graphics student.

Florentina, from Miri, Sarawak, said she was diagnosed with the disease when she went for a medical check-up at University Malaya Medical Centre in March last year.

She was told to take Viagra daily to maintain her blood pressure level.

A doctor who declined to be named said Viagra could reduce the pressure on the right side of Florentina’s heart which was high.

The doctor said Viagra was initially introduced for hypertension but it was later found that it could also help patients with erectile dysfunction.

Florentina’s former lecturer Farah Nuzaily Zakaria, 27, said she had taken her to the National Heart Institute in Kuala Lumpur and Island Hospital in Penang, and again was told Florentina had to take Viagra to live.

“We were told that Viagra was the cheapest medication that could help improve her condition,” she said during a press conference held at the Umno Public Complaints Bureau office in Butterworth yesterday.

Forentina’s younger sister, Linda Livan George, 20, is working at a fast food restaurant in Penang to help buy the medication.

Those who wish to help Florentina can send out their cheques made payable to Biro Pengaduan Umno, Tingkat 2, Bangunan Mahkamah Munisipal MPSP, Lorong Kg Jawa, Jalan Bagan Luar, 12000 Butterworth. They should write Florentina’s name on the back of their cheques.

Read two very interesting items in the Star today:

Man blown apart in lorry explosion
KUALA LUMPUR: A man, who was waiting for his brother in a lorry, was blown to pieces when the vehicle carrying engine oil exploded on Sunday in Kepong, here.

Police said Lee Gar Chin, 31, was ripped apart in the explosion.

It was learnt that a cigarette was the cause of the blast. Police have ruled out foul play.

The other item was about an old woman who cannot keep her mouth shut.

Winning lottery ticket seller goes into hiding

AFTER a punter from Muar won a whopping RM17mil in a Big Sweep draw, the person who sold the winning ticket has gone into hiding, China Press reported.

The speculation in town is that the ticket seller is an old woman, who fears she would be a target of crooks.

An official of the lottery company in Kuala Lumpur, identified only as Ye, said their Muar representative had scolded her for disclosing details of the winning ticket.

She said that because there were not many lottery representatives in Muar it was easy to find out who sold the winning ticket.

Ye recalled that some years back a Big Sweep representative in Kuala Lumpur became a victim of robbers when it was found that he had sold a winning ticket.

There has got to be a lesson or two to be learned here.