Thanks, I somehow missed that part. I wonder how those studies controlled for confounding factors — it could well be that a prior tendency to more Clostridium difficile infections is correlated to a tendency to get an appendix infection.

To be clear, I'm not necessarily as sceptical as GP commenter. I'm just surprised that so much talk about the actual function of the appendix appears to centre around theoreticals rather than on clinical data.

> nasty bacteria C. diff tend to be higher in people who have had their appendix removed.

Uh, because people undergoing appendectomy are, almost by definition, more likely to receive antibiotic treatment, which is a far-better documented basis for C. diff infection. This article is catastrophe.