SHOCK DISCOVERY: New human organ to treat digestive diseases found
A NEW human organ which could hold the key to treating digestive diseases has been discovered.
The mesentery has now been classified as a single organ
The mesentery has now been classified as one single organ, which connects the abdomen to the intestine, after being previously described as an unimportant group of structures.
The discovery now brings the total number of human organs to 79.
Irish researcher J Calvin Coffey, from University Hospital Limerick in Ireland, began researching the role of the mesentery in 2012.
The mesentery used to be classified as a single structure
When we approach it like every other organ we can categorise abdominal disease in terms of this organ
Since then he has gathered enough research to prove it should be classified as an organ, rather than just a single structure.
The mesentery is a double fold of peritoneum, the abdominal cavity lining, which keeps everything together.
He said: "When we approach it like every other organ we can categorise abdominal disease in terms of this organ."
Writing in ‘The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology’, he said: "In the paper, which has been peer reviewed and assessed, we are now saying we have an organ in the body which hasn’t been acknowledged as such to date.
Digestive tube histology
“The anatomic description that had been laid down over 100 years of anatomy was incorrect. This organ is far from fragmented and complex. It’s simply one continuous structure.
“The next step is the function. If you understand the function you can identify abnormal function, and then you have disease.
The total of number of human organs is now at 79
“Put them all together and you have the field of mesenteric science, the basis for a whole new area of science."