Appendicitis: Not always just abdominal pain

The appendix: the one organ of the body that doesn't have any well-defined purpose -- well, any purpose other than randomly bursting without notice.

If health conditions can be famous, then appendicitis is. And even though it's easy to treat, if left untreated it can be extremely serious and even fatal. Abdominal pain is the most obvious and most noticeable symptom of appendicitis, but the following are also important to watch for:

• Abdominal pain that starts around the belly button area, and may move over to the right lower side, and steadily intensifies as time goes by
  
• Fever
• Nausea/vomiting
• Constipation or diarrhea

Of course, if you or someone you know does need to have surgery the good news is that removing the appendix is a fairly routine procedure, and living without it isn't even noticeable -- other than a small scar maybe.