The Lowly Spleen Gets Some Respect

The spleen is now known to be a crucial storage place for immune cells.

SUMMARY: The spleen is no longer considered just a waste of space. Doctors already knew this organ, located behind the stomach, performs various functions including making antibodies and storing red blood cells. However, they still considered the spleen to be nonessential.

A new study published in Science begs to differ. While it is true people can live without a spleen, the organ is far from worthless. It actually is a crucial storage place for large numbers of monocytes, a type of immune cell. Monocytes, which form in bone marrow, can rally to fight infections and repair the body after traumas such as heart attacks. Scientists had believed monocytes were stored in the blood, but new studies with mice show the spleen contains ten times more monocytes than blood--making it an important storehouse.

Although until now there was no proof of the spleen's role as a monocyte storehouse, scientists already in 1977 suspected as much. They did a study that showed servicemen who had their spleen removed during World War II were more likely to die from pneumonia and heart disease than their colleagues.

The spleen is just one of many organs that once were considered useless but are now known to have important functions. The appendix is another, but this organ is now credited as being a storehouse of beneficial bacteria that help us digest food. The appendix is especially important in unusually germ-ridden environments.

(Picture: cross-section of a spleen, from Wikipedia.)

To read the entire article click on this DISCOVER link.

COMMENT: "Vestigial" organs are usually defined by secular scientists as organs that once served useful purposes in the evolutionary history of an animal but which today are almost or completely useless. I could compare them to computer-related items from the past we may still have lying around the house or office like floppy disks or punch cards which I don't believe are of any value anymore to most modern computer users.

The idea of vestigial organs has been used by evolutionists to poke fun at the belief that humans and animals have been designed by a Creator. Why would God put useless or unnecessary organs into a creature? On the other hand, if animals are naturally evolving into other kinds of animals, it is reasonable to believe they will retain some organs that they no longer need to use just like those floppy disks we haven't gotten around to putting into the garbage.

The only problem with this scenario is that it isn't true. There are really no such things as vestigial organs. As we have learned more about the bodies of humans and animals, the list of so-called vestigial organs has dwindled to nothing. The Web site creation.com says there were 180 vestigial organs in 1890. Now there are none. Important functions have been discovered for every one of them. This includes such features as the wings of flightless birds and scale leaves of parasitic flowering plants as well as the appendix, tonsils, and thymus in humans.

Yes, the Master Designer would not give any creature including humans any organ or other feature that does not serve an important purpose. And alone among all of His creatures God has given to each human an immortal soul, a feature than is invisible to science but nevertheless very real. The importance of our souls is that we can go to be with God when we die if we have accepted the gift of salvation which Jesus has won for us through His suffering and death on the cross.

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QUESTION OF THE DAY

Can attending a concert cause tinnitus?

Yes, tinnitus (ringing in the ears) can be brought on by attending a single rock concert, especially if you are sitting or standing near powerful speakers. Any exposure to noise above 115 decibels can cause tinnitus or even permanent hearing loss. Rock concerts can produce sounds of this magnitude for two or three hours. To protect yourself, wear earplugs and keep away from the speakers.

Source: Bottom Line Personal (August 1, 2009)

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