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Western lifestyle may limit the diversity of bacteria in the gut

A.B.

Senior Member
Messages
3,780
Recent studies consistently show that a modern lifestyle depletes the gut's collection of microbes, but how lifestyle affects the diversity of this gut 'microbiome' is unclear. An analysis of the gut microbiomes of Papua New Guinean and US residents now suggests that western lifestyle may diminish the variety of bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract by limiting their ability to be transmitted among humans.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/04/150416132203.htm
 

PennyIA

Senior Member
Messages
728
Location
Iowa
Anyone else thinking... well... duh?!

Pasteurized milk, treated and filtered water, education on handling raw meat, hand sanitizers, etc... etc... etc...

are all tied to reducing exposure to bacteria... ergo there would be less bacteria we get exposed to... ummm... duh?
 

sarah darwins

Senior Member
Messages
2,508
Location
Cornwall, UK
Anyone else thinking... well... duh?!

Pasteurized milk, treated and filtered water, education on handling raw meat, hand sanitizers, etc... etc... etc...

are all tied to reducing exposure to bacteria... ergo there would be less bacteria we get exposed to... ummm... duh?

Yeah, quite.

Specifically, bacterial dispersal, or the ability of bacteria to move from individual to individual, appears to be the dominant process that shapes the collection of gut bacteria in residents of Papua New Guinea but not those in US residents.

"These findings suggest that lifestyle practices that reduce bacterial dispersal--specifically sanitation and drinking water treatment--might be an important cause of microbiome alterations," Walter says. "We propose a model based on ecological theory that fits the data and provides an explanation for the decline of microbiota diversity in urban-industrialized societies."

I'm thinking their model doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Do bacteria really have much more chance to pass from one New Guinea tribesperson to another than would be the case among, say, New Yorkers who take the subway twice a day?

I would have thought dietary practices — processed food, sterile growing conditions, antibiotics in farming etc. etc. would be much more likely culprits.
 

Groggy Doggy

Guest
Messages
1,130
@A.B.

Look at what is happening in China. I was shocked to learn they have the same Western Lifestyle health issues. And violence against doctors is a new concept to me also. This in an approved abstract for the upcoming Stanford Medicine X conference in September 2016.

____________________

Mark Heitner, MD, MBA

"1. Doctors are under siege. Doctors may see 100-200 patients/day. They are known to supplement their meager income by ordering unnecessary tests and medicines.

2. Our research showed that patients often wait hours in lengthy queues for a cursory consultation that they do not understand. Health literacy is low. Violence against doctors is all too common.
China faces multiple medical catastrophes:

  • 114 million have diabetes
  • 493 million have prediabetes
  • 267 million have hypertension
  • 150 million have major depression
  • 27% of global cancer deaths are in China
Decaying dietary and lifestyle habits (68% of Chinese men smoke) have exacerbated these crises."
 
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TigerLilea

Senior Member
Messages
1,147
Location
Vancouver, British Columbia
Add to the list all of the chemicals that are added to our foods, plastics, toxic fumes we breath in, toxins in lotions we put on our skin, etc. It all adds up over time and destroys our bacteria.