The gut microbiome: how does it affect our health?

We can carry up to 2 kg of microbes in our gut. Within the tens of trillions of micro-organisms that live there are at least 1,000 species of bacteria consisting of over 3 million genes. What is more, two thirds of the gut microbiome - the population of microbes in the intestine - is unique to each individual. But do you know how your gut microbiota could be influencing your health?

 Most of us know that the bacteria within our gut play a crucial role in digestion. When the stomach and small intestine can't seem to digest particular foods we eat, gut microbes begin to offer a bit of support, ensuring we have the nutrients we want.

In addition, gut bacteria are recognized to aid producing certain vitamins - for instance vitamins B and K - and play an essential role in immune function.

But increasingly, researchers operate to find out more about how exactly gut bacteria - specially the bacteria which is unique to us individually - influence our wellbeing and chance of disease.

Perhaps most studied is just how gut microbiota affects an individual's chance obesity and also other metabolic conditions. In November 2014, for instance, Medical News Today reported over a study claiming our genetic makeup shapes the type of bacteria reside in your gut, which can affect our weight.

In this Spotlight, we examine obesity and many of the other - perhaps surprising - medical conditions that may be driven by our gut microbiota.
The continuing development of gut microbiota

Belief has long held that the progression of gut microbiota will not start until birth, using the gastrointestinal tract of the fetus thought to be a sterile environment.

According to Gut Microbiota Worldwatch - a data service developed by the Gut Microbiota and Health Section on the European Society for Neurogastroenterology & Motility, a member on the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) - this tract of an newborn is rapidly colonized with micro-organisms from your mother along with the surrounding environment.

An infant's gut microbiota, as an example, may be influenced by breastfeeding. Gut Microbiota Worldwatch explain the gut of breastfed babies primarily contains Bifidobacteria - considered a "friendly" bacteria that benefits the gut - while formula fed babies will likely have less with this bacteria.

However, some numerous studies have shown challenged the belief how the fetus is usually a sterile environment, suggesting that the growth of gut microbiota begins before birth.

A 2008 study published from the journal Research in Microbiology identified bacteria, including Enterococcus and Staphylococcus, inside the early feces of baby mice - referred to as meconium - indicating the bacteria was used the fetus through the mother's gut when pregnant.

In these studies, a team of pregnant mice has also been inoculated with all the bacterium Enterococcus fecium, that has been isolated from human breast milk. The baby mice were delivered by Cesarean section day before the predicted labor date, in addition to their meconium was tested. The researchers identified E. fecium of their feces, but no trace was found inside the meconium of an control group.

"Based about the sum of evidence, it's time to overturn the sterile womb paradigm and recognize the unborn baby is first colonized within the womb," Seth Bordenstein, a biologist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN, told The Scientist this past year.
The more diverse our gut bacteria, the better

While the controversy over whether infants are born with gut bacteria continues, it seems like scientists come in agreement about something: from birth until later years, our gut bacteria is consistently evolving.

As already stated, two thirds with the gut microbiome is exclusive to each person, and why this unique will be the food we eat, mid-air we breathe and also other environmental factors. Some numerous studies have even suggested the makeup on the gut microbiome is affected by genes.

But how does this amazing gut bacteria affect our health and wellness? This can be a question that researchers have become increasingly considering answering.

Past studies have suggested that the broader diversity of bacteria in gut is more preferable for human health. A recent study reported by MNT, as an example, found out that infants with less diverse gut bacteria for the age of a couple of months were almost certainly going to be sensitized to specific foods - including egg, milk and peanut - by the era of 1 year, indicating that insufficient gut bacteria diversity noisy . life might be a driver for food allergies.

But the implications of any low-diversity gut microbiome will not stop there. You may be surprised to master how absence of or overpopulation of specific bacteria may impact your quality of life.
Obesity

More and even more studies are looking in the association between your gut microbiome and fat gain, by incorporating scientists suggesting the makeup of bacteria within the gut may influence your susceptibility to excess weight.

Earlier inside the article, we mentioned a 2014 study that claims our genes may know very well what bacteria live inside our gut, knowning that this bacteria may influence how heavy we're also.  

 In detail, the analysis - conducted by researchers from Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, and King's College London within the UK - learned that a certain strain of bacteria - Christensenellaceae minuta - was more prevalent in those with a low body mass, understanding that the presence of that strain is extremely influenced by genes.

What might be more, introducing this bacteria to your guts of mice caused the animals to realize less weight, indicating the bacteria may reduce or prevent obesity.

"Our findings show specific sets of microbes surviving in our gut could possibly be protective against obesity - knowning that their abundance is depending our genes," said study author Prof. Tim Spector of King's College London. "The human microbiome represents a thrilling new target for dietary changes and treatments aimed towards combating obesity."

In 2012, another study published from the Journal of Proteome Research suggested that your lack of bacteria within the large intestine may drive obesity by reducing the activity of brown fat, which protects against fat gain when stimulated by burning calories and white fat.

A more modern study provides further evidence that gut bacteria may influence extra weight. A case report published inside the journal Open Forum Infectious Diseases revealed the fact that women who underwent fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) utilising an overweight donor rapidly became obese herself following a procedure.

While the jury remains out on whether gut bacteria is directly connected with obesity, it's an area that certainly warrants further investigation.
Cancer

In the past several years, scientists have increasingly investigated the connection between gut bacteria and cancer.

In a 2013 study published in The Journal of Cancer Research, US researchers claimed to get a specific bacteria within the intestines - Lactobacillus johnsonii - which will play a role inside development of lymphoma, a cancer on the white blood cells.

Another 2013 study conducted by UK researchers learned that a common gut bacteria called Helicobacter pylori might result in stomach cancer and duodenal ulcers by deactivating a part on the immune system included in regulating inflammation.

And in 2014, MNT reported on research from your Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, where investigators associated a unique combination of gut bacteria with the continuing development of colorectal cancer.

For these studies, they gave antibiotics to mice that possessed gene mutations seen to cause colorectal polyps, which may develop into cancer. The antibiotics were administered to interfere using the gut bacteria in the mice. The researchers found out that these mice wouldn't develop polyps, suggesting that gut microbes may be linked to their development.

But and also being associated with cancer development, research has discovered that gut bacteria might be important for increasing the effectiveness of cancer treatment.

In 2013, research by researchers through the National Cancer Institute found out that immunotherapy and chemotherapy were less efficient in mice lacking gut bacteria, by using these treatments working significantly better in mice which has a normal gut microbiome.

Similar outcome was found in another 2013 study by French researchers. An antitumor drug - cyclophosphamide - is discovered to be much less powerful in mice with limited gut bacteria, in contrast to mice with normal gut bacteria.

"Both studies are extreme fun in that they reveal initial links between gut microbiota and [response to] therapies," Harvard University's Peter Turnbaugh told The Scientist. "The papers underscore the significance [of] microbes in shaping besides our initial predisposition to disease, but additionally our recovery as a result."
Mental Health

Not we're all likely to contemplate how gut bacteria change the mental state, nonetheless they actually play an essential role.

According to your American Psychological Association (APA), gut bacteria produce numerous neurochemicals the brain uses of the damaging physiological and mental processes, including memory, learning and mood. In fact, 95% with the body's way to obtain serotonin is made by gut bacteria, according on the APA. 

 With this in mind, it's perhaps unsurprising that gut bacteria continues to be associated with a amount of mental health conditions, including panic attacks and depression.

In 2014, as an example, a work published inside journal Psychopharmacology learned that prebiotics - carbohydrates that boost healthy bacteria inside the gut - could be effective for reducing panic and anxiety.

For case study, 45 healthy adults were randomized to take delivery of the prebiotic or perhaps a placebo daily for 15 days. All participants were then come across both positive and negative stimuli.

The team learned that the participants who received the prebiotic were not as likely to pay attention towards the negative stimuli compared to those who received the placebo - suggesting lower anxiety in negative situations. They also had lower levels in the "stress hormone" cortisol.

"Time and time again, we hear from patients which they never felt depressed or anxious until they started experiencing difficulties with their gut," said lead study author Dr. Kirsten Tillisch, the investigation's lead author. "Our study demonstrates the gut-brain connection can be a two-way street."
Autism

Autism is estimated to affect one out of 68 children within the US. While research has associated environmental factors - like pollution - and genetics as potential causes from the disorder, researchers are increasingly going through the role of gut bacteria in their development.

In 2013, research by researchers from Arizona State University found out that children with autism possessed lower numbers of three varieties of gut bacteria - Prevotella, Coprococcus and Veillonellaceae - in contrast to children free with the condition.

A newer study from the team learned that concentrations of specific chemicals made by gut bacteria - called metabolites - in fecal samples of kids with autism differed for the concentrations found from the fecal types of children minus the disorder.

This led they to hypothesize that gut microbes modify the metabolites regarding communication relating to the gut along with the brain, which disrupts brain function.

Further strengthening the association between gut bacteria and autism is usually a 2013 study published in Cell that found the bacterium Bacteroides fragilis reduced autism-like symptoms in mice.
Can we alter our gut bacteria?

Since the gut microbiome is relying on the food we eat and also the environment around us, it seems sensible that there are approaches to make it healthier.

According for the Mayo Clinic, a healthy diet plan can encourage the presence of excellent gut bacteria. They remember that consuming fermented foods - for example miso and sauerkraut - improves the level of fermenting bacteria inside gut. In addition, fruit and veggies contain fibers and sugars that could boost the health of gut bacteria.

Exercise will also be key to improving gut bacteria diversity, according to research reported by MNT in June 2014.

The study, published within the journal Gut, compared the gut bacteria of 40 professional rugby players achievable of two control groups. They found out that the rugby players had better levels of Akkermansiaceae into their gut - a bacterium that may be associated with reduced likelihood of obesity.

In an editorial linked to the research, Dr. Georgina Hold, from the Institute of Medical Sciences at Aberdeen University in Scotland, noted that your better understanding of methods to improve health via gut bacteria is vital:

    "As life-span continues to increase, it can be important that we know the way best to maintain good health. Never has this been more relevant compared with respect of our own resident microbiota. Understanding the complex relationship among might know about choose to eat, activity levels and gut microbiota richness is vital.

    Developing new methods to manipulate the beneficial properties individuals microbiota by finding solutions to integrate health-promoting properties into modern living ought to be the goal."

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What can lemurs tell us about about longevity?

After Jonas - one of their captive dwarf lemurs - died at nearly 30 years old, researchers from Duke University Lemur Center in Durham, NC, decided to look for clues that might explain his long lifespan.

They reveal what you found - after combing half a century of the Center's medical records - within the Journal of Zoology.

The records covered medical data on numerous dwarf lemurs and three other lemur species. Jonas was considered one of a particularly long-lived clan of fat-tailed dwarf lemurs.

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Classical music helped cats relax during surgery

New research suggests cats under general anesthetic can process the sound of music - with different genres eliciting stress or relaxation. In a small study of female cats undergoing neutering surgery, classical music appeared to have the most calming effect.

The research occurred in a veterinary clinic inside town of Barreiro, not far from Lisbon in Portugal, called the work of veterinary clinicians from your University of Lisbon. They report their findings from the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

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American kids are consuming less fast food, study finds

One group of researchers have good news for people concerned with the obesity national health crisis in the US. They report that the percentage of children eating fast food on any given day has fallen. 

The study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, examines trends in kids's calories from fat by fastfood restaurant type, utilizing data in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2003-10.

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Higher coffee consumption may protect against liver cancer

Coffee is the morning pick-me-up of millions - every day people drink coffee to increase wakefulness and improve concentration and focus. A new report has shown that regular coffee intake could also reduce liver cancer risk caused by daily alcohol consumption. 

According to research conducted from the London, UK-based World Cancer Research Fund International, drinking three alcoholic drinks every day can be enough to cause liver cancer.

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'Night vision eyedrops' improve vision up to 50 meters in dark

An independent research group called Science for the Masses have developed eyedrops that allow the user to identify symbols and people in darkened areas up to 50 meters away. 

The eyedrops start using a mixture of insulin and chlorin e6 (Ce6) - a chlorophyll analog which includes be used for countless years in laser-assisted cancer treatment. Ce6 has light-amplifying properties, allowing surgeons to utilize energy from low-power light sources to destroy tumor cells.

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Many parents may not recognize child obesity

New research says many parents in the UK may not be aware that their children have a weight problem unless they are extremely obese. The finding has prompted suggestions that more needs to be done to help parents understand official measures of overweight and obesity, the health risks associated with childhood obesity, and how to promote healthier lifestyles in their children.

The team - on the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine as well as the UCL Institute of Child Health, also in London - reports the findings inside the British Journal of General Practice.

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Fecal transplantation 'more effective than previously thought' for C. diff infection

Fecal transplantation for patients with Clostridium difficile infection may be a more effective treatment strategy than previously thought, according to a new study.

 

Conducted by researchers from your University of Minnesota and also the University of Colorado-Boulder, the investigation reveals that fecal transplantation makes long-term healthy changes on the gut bacteria of patients have been infected with C. difficile - a finding people say could have important regulatory implications for that procedure.

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Long-term statins to prevent a first heart attack? Experts issue tips on making the decision

To statin or not to statin. That is the question addressed by leading cardiologists who say that "making the right choice hinges on the physician's clear explanation - and the patient's correct understanding" of the risks and benefits of long-term preventive use for people at high risk but yet to experience any heart attack or stroke.  

Statins are the most widely used drugs in medicine, along with the cholesterol-lowering agents have transformed the treating of heart disease, which remains to be the number one culprit in US death records.

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Gene identified that drives aggressive form of breast cancer

A team of researchers have identified a gene that drives one of the most aggressive forms of breast cancer. They hope that by finding a way to block the gene they may be able to make the cancer less aggressive.  

In their study, published in Nature Communications, they found that the gene often known as "inhibitor of differentiation 4" (ID4) besides indicates a properly aggressive sort of triple-negative cancer of the breast but also generally seems to control it.

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Scientists identify neural mechanism responsible for chronic pain

 In a new study published in the journal Neuron, scientists from the University of Berne in Switzerland identify a mechanism in the brain they suggest is responsible for chronic pain. The researchers hope that their discovery will lead toward new treatments for chronic pain. 

 "The constant perception of pain severely influences the standard of life of the patients and represents a unprecedented emotional burden," says lead author Thomas Nevian on the Department of Physiology in the University of Bern.

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Peanut consumption 'benefits vascular function'

Peanuts can often be found on coffee tables, at baseball games, tossed in salads, stir fried with vegetables and topped on sundaes. There is now emerging evidence that peanuts, which play an integral role in our culture, may benefit vascular health. 

While "nut" is their name, peanuts are actually legumes. Peanuts grow underground, compared to nuts including walnuts and almonds, which grow on trees.

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New study investigates the link between family income and brain development

Researchers at The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles, CA, and Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY, have published the findings of a new study that investigates associations between socioeconomic factors and children's brain development in the journal Nature Neuroscience. 

 "While for no reason implying a child's socioeconomic circumstances bring about immutable adjustments to brain development or cognition," says Elizabeth Sowell, PhD, director from the Developmental Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory, part in the Institute for that Developing Mind at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, "our data declare that wider entry to resources likely afforded because of the more affluent may cause differences in a child's brain structure."

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Breast cancer 'is not a single disease,' say experts

A new report from a group of leading medical experts in the US claims breast cancer is not a single disease; it consists of four molecular subtypes, each with different treatment responses and different survival rates. Incidence of these subtypes varies by age, race/ethnicity and many other factors, according to the experts.

The report, recently published within the Journal on the National Cancer Institute, was provided by researchers through the North American Association of Cancer Registries (NAACCR), the American Cancer Society, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and also the National Cancer Institute (NCI).

The authors from the report, including Betsy A. Kohler with the NAACCR, declare that defining breast cancers by the four subtypes will aid cancers of the breast diagnosis and treatment and help patients better know the way their diagnosis will affect themselves.

After melanoma, cancer of the breast is the most frequent cancer among American women. This year, roughly 231,840 new cases of invasive cancers of the breast will be diagnosed inside the US and over 40,000 women will die on the condition.

For their report, Kohler and colleagues analyzed the incidence of invasive breast cancers in 2011 among women aged 85 and younger using data from NAACCR member registries.

These registries already record breast cancers incidence by four tumor subtypes, which might be defined because of the hormone receptor (HR) status as well as the expression in the HER2 gene. The subtypes are: Luminal A (HR+/HER2-), Luminal B (HR+/HER2+), HER2-enriched (HR-/HER2+) and triple-negative (HR-/HER2-).

Triple-negative breast cancers most common among non-Hispanic black women

Using this data, the study were - initially - competent to examine how incidence of each cancers of the breast subtype varies by a number of factors.

For example, the report reveals that this least aggressive cancers of the breast subtype, HR+/HER2-, was most frequent among non-Hispanic white women. For each racial/ethnic group, rates on this subtype reduced as poverty levels rose, the c's found.

Looking with the results by age, the group found that HR+/HER2- breast cancers rates were comparable across all racial/ethnic groups for girls under the age of 45. Incidence with this subtype for ladies aged over 45, however, was more usual among non-Hispanic white women than other ethnic/racial groups.

The researchers found how the most aggressive breast cancers subtype, HR-/HER2-, was most commonly encountered among non-Hispanic black women.

Non-Hispanic black women also had the biggest rates of late-stage cancers of the breast diagnosis across all subtypes, as well as the best rates of poorly/undifferentiated pathology. All of these factors are regarding poorer cancers of the breast survival, they notes, this is why black women have the best rates of breast cancers deaths.

Director with the NCI Dr. Harold Varmus says simple fact this report assesses cancers of the breast as "four molecularly defined subtypes, not just a single disease" is often a "welcome step, determined by medically info that already guides therapeutic methods for these subtypes." He adds:

    "Further, it is often a harbinger from the more rigorous classification of cancers determined by their molecular features that may be now being aggressively pursued beneath the President's Precision Medicine Initiative.

    The new diagnostic categories now being defined will increasingly support our capacity to prevent and treat breast and plenty of other kinds of cancer, together with monitor their incidence and outcomes more rigorously with time."

Overall cancer mortality rates have fallen

In addition to analyzing cancers of the breast incidence within the US by subtype, the study used NAACCR data to gauge incidence and death rates of some in the most major cancers inside the US and all sorts of cancers combined.

They found out that between 2002 and 2011, overall cancer incidence rates fell by 0.5% annually. Between 2007 and 2011, overall cancer incidence rates males fell by 1.8% yearly. Such rates remained stable for ladies between 1998 and 2011, while cancer incidence rates among children have risen 0.8% annually in the last 10 years.

There was some good news regarding overall cancer mortality rates; the group found that such rates have fallen considering that the early 1990s. Between 2002 and 2011, overall cancer mortality rates fell by 1.8% annually males and 1.4% annually for ladies. For children and adolescents aged 19 and under, cancer mortality rates are actually falling since 1975, excluding the time period 1998-2003.

"The continued decline in cancer death rates among men, females and children is encouraging, also it reflects progress we're also making in cancer prevention, early detection and treatment," says Dr. Tom Frieden, director with the CDC. "However, the continuing high burden of preventable cancer, and disparities in death rates among races and ethnicities, demonstrate that we have a long way to visit."

In addition, the report reveals that there is really a fall in united states and colorectal cancer incidence rates in men and women, which they say is likely as a result of reduced smoking rates caused by public health interventions.

The report also identifies an increase in incidence rates for thyroid and kidney cancers, however, together with a surge in incidence and mortality rates for liver cancer.

"The drop in incidence in lung and colorectal cancers shows the lifesaving impact of prevention," says John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer in the American Cancer Society. "But we have far to go, installing these two cancers but inside many other cancers the place that the trend will not be so positive."

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Exploding head syndrome could affect 1 in 5 young people

Exploding head syndrome might not be a condition that people are familiar with, but according to new research published in the Journal of Sleep Research, a surprisingly high percentage of young people could experience the psychological phenomenon.

The syndrome is seen as an the perception of abrupt exposure to noise when getting out of bed or sleeping. Although typically painless, these noises might cause fear and distress to your person experiencing them, who could possibly be unable to rationalize what has caused their symptoms.

Little is understood about exploding head syndrome though many experts already have suggested how the rare condition primarily affects older adults.

"I didn't believe the clinical lore it would only happen in people into their 50s," says study author Brian Sharpless, PhD, of Washington State University. "That didn't generate a lot of biological sense if you ask me."

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