Karen Springen

To survive, you need your heart, lungs, and liver. But what about your appendix, tonsils, wisdom teeth, and other parts that you normally hear about only when they're being removed. Are they just troublemakers? Not quite. “Most likely all of these were useful and all of them may still be,” says Dr. Robert Ashton, a surgeon at Montefiore Medical Center who admits that “some of them are thought to be more useful than others. ”  Still, some body parts may linger thanks to evolutionary laziness, says Dr. Udayan Shah, associate professor of otolaryngology at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia and chair of the medical devices and drug committee for the American Academy of Otolaryngology─Head and Neck Surgery. “If it doesn’t interfere with reproduction, it’s not going to be removed from the human gene pool.” With recent research indicating that the appendix isn't just a ticking time bomb, we got thinking: what other body parts get an undeserved bad rap, and which ones...

A psychologist on the complicated reasons couples are reluctant to donate or destroy stored embryos after their fertility treatments end.

A tooth cleaning for Christmas? Don't laugh. In a tight economy, giving the gift of health isn't just practical, it can be a life-saver.

A psychologist on the complicated reasons couples are reluctant to donate or destroy stored embryos after their fertility treatments end.

A tooth cleaning for Christmas? Don't laugh. In a tight economy, giving the gift of health isn't just practical, it can be a life-saver.

Americans are spending about $2 billion a year on gluten-free products, which advocates claim can help with everything from autism to ADHD, but is the trend more about hype than health?

Emma Walton Hamilton writes children's books with her mother, Julie Andrews. Now she's written about how to get kids to read.

A dessert expert's tips on making holiday treats more healthful.

Would a national law requiring calorie counts on chain restaurant menus help curb the obesity epidemic, or would we stay in 'Dining Denial'?

Do those flat-abs diets work? We sort through the myths and realities of fighting waistline weight gain.

At the Chicago apartment block where Obama worked as a community organizer, remembering a "God-sent" young man.

Three new studies examine the mystery of SIDS—a condition that takes thousands of infant lives every year.

Advocates call it flexitarianism, but critics say being a little bit vegetarian is like being a little bit pregnant.

In developing countries, where infertility is seen as a personal failing, or even a curse, a woman who can't conceive may face devastating ostracism. But there's hope for more affordable treatment.

'The Hunger Games' portrays a world where kids must kill each other to survive. The shocker? It's a book for 12-year-olds.

A CDC expert on the success of the chickenpox vaccine and why every child should get a booster shot to prevent new outbreaks of the potentially serious disease.

Like Christina Applegate, more women are choosing prophylactic mastectomies. But does the radical procedure increase breast-cancer survival rates?

The author of a new study of the HPV vaccine discusses its cost-effectiveness and the conflicting information about who should get it and when.

Bennigan's restaurants fall victim to American belt-tightening.

As a new study paints a dark picture for babies born before 37 weeks, an expert offers advice about having a healthy pregnancy.