Have you ever heard of appendectomy? It’s a surgical procedure to remove the appendix, and it turns out it could have some unexpected consequences on your health. According to a new study, people who have an appendectomy may have an increased risk of getting colorectal cancer (CRC).
But that’s not all! The researchers also looked at the bacteria that live in people’s digestive systems, also known as the gut microbiome, and found that people who had an appendectomy had a change in the balance of these bacteria. Specifically, there were more of certain types of bacteria that are associated with an increased risk of CRC and fewer of the beneficial kinds. And guess what? When they tested this in mice, they found that appendectomy caused changes in the gut microbiome that were linked to an increased risk of CRC in those mice as well.
So what does all this mean? It seems that the gut microbiome may play a role in the development of CRC in people who have had an appendectomy.
GIbiome 