3 ms·

I believe it’s only posited to be useful for isolated small groups where everyone might get the same stomach bug at the same time, and have no other humans arou

I believe it’s only posited to be useful for isolated small groups where everyone might get the same stomach bug at the same time, and have no other humans around with a healthy gut biome to “re-infect” them. Which explains why in dense modern society we couldn’t find a difference that the appendix makes, because we get reinfected with healthy microbiome from sharing germs with all the other humans in our big cities - some of whom didn’t just get a terrible stomach bug at the same time as us.

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
> Which explains why in dense modern society we couldn’t find a difference that the appendix makes, because we get reinfected with healthy microbiome from sharing germs with all the other humans in our big cities - some of whom didn’t just get a terrible stomach bug at the same time as us. Do you have any citations for that? Perhaps it differs by city and region, but many modern cities with good sanitation systems are exceptionally clean - you're not getting frequently reinfected by others' gut flora unless there is a catastrophic problem with the sewer system. People with things like C. difficile infection can have chronic disease for years, and fecal transplants have only recently been recognized as a good treatment in those cases - point being you have to have an actual fecal transplant, you're not just going to "get reinfected with healthy microbiome from sharing germs with all the other humans".
quickthrower2 3y ago
If true, lockdowns would have had an effect on those without an appendix? It would be interest to see how historically contact with X other people has changed over time. I don’t think you need a big city to mix with a lot of people. I imagine in older times there are fewer people but likely to be closer to each other - people sharing beds (not stupidly associating bed with sex) and tribes of families mingling close lower instead of nuclear family. By contrast the city apartment is the hermetic seal around a small number of people choosing to live together. But a modern concept: corporations, jobs and careers ensure people keep mixing up with people outside.
taneq 3y ago
If that’s the case, shouldn’t we see more adverse effects of appendectomy in areas with stricter hygiene customs?

hn_throwaway_99 3y ago

> Which explains why in dense modern society we couldn’t find a difference that the appendix makes, because we get reinfected with healthy microbiome from sharing germs with all the other humans in our big cities - some of whom didn’t just get a terrible stomach bug at the same time as us. Do you have any citations for that? Perhaps it differs by city and region, but many modern cities with good sanitation systems are exceptionally clean - you're not getting frequently reinfected by others' gut flora unless there is a catastrophic problem with the sewer system. People with things like C. difficile infection can have chronic disease for years, and fecal transplants have only recently been recognized as a good treatment in those cases - point being you have to have an actual fecal transplant, you're not just going to "get reinfected with healthy microbiome from sharing germs with all the other humans".

quickthrower2 3y ago

If true, lockdowns would have had an effect on those without an appendix? It would be interest to see how historically contact with X other people has changed over time. I don’t think you need a big city to mix with a lot of people. I imagine in older times there are fewer people but likely to be closer to each other - people sharing beds (not stupidly associating bed with sex) and tribes of families mingling close lower instead of nuclear family. By contrast the city apartment is the hermetic seal around a small number of people choosing to live together. But a modern concept: corporations, jobs and careers ensure people keep mixing up with people outside.

taneq 3y ago

If that’s the case, shouldn’t we see more adverse effects of appendectomy in areas with stricter hygiene customs?