Skippa
Anti-BS
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Seriously, I think it's really interesting. I don't think they're suggesting a mystery bug that if only they could find it we'd all be cured.
Rather I think the stuff about the microbiota may be relevant to lots of illnesses because the balance of different good and bad microorganisms in the gut seems to effect things like whether the gut lining is 'leaky', ie lets through into the blood organisms that really shouldn't be there and perpetuating inflammatory states, and also it effects whether we absorb nutrients etc.
I think it's a fascinating field and may well have implications for ME too.
This looks really important to me, it's the first strong evidence linking the gut microbiome to a brain-based disease
Inflammatory bowel disease is another. But yes, it's an important finding for exactly that reasonIF this pans out it might at least address one concern I've had about all this microbiome stuff - i.e. - can we point to a single human disease where the microbiome can be unambiguously linked to the pathology?
The full paper - Reference: Navaneetharaja N., Griffiths V., Wileman T., Carding S.R. (2016). A Role for the Intestinal Microbiota and Virome in Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), J. Clin. Med. 5, 55; doi:10.3390/jcm5060055The next steps in the Carding lab are to correlate phage populations in patients with severe disease compared to house-matched controls. This work has the potential to elucidate more distinct subpopulations within current ME/CFS classifications and of upmost importance, has the potential to influence therapeutics, providing much-needed approaches in preventing and managing a disease in need of confronting.
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Gut Microbiota Regulate Motor Deficits and Neuroinflammation in a Model of Parkinson’s Disease: Cell
The work is on a 'mouse model' of Parkinson's Disease (PD), genetically engineered to have high levels of synuclein, the protein that clumps into fibres in PD, mice that go on to develop PD......
Inflammatory bowel disease is another. But yes, it's an important finding for exactly that reason
All that said - it's interesting but I'm still not convinced (from what I've seen) that a disturbed microbiome can be shown to directly cause any chronic disease.
The study also provided evidence that it's particulary bacterial products - short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) that are responsible for the effect. They used germ-free mice (no gut bacteria) and added the short chain fatty acids which provoked symptoms and microglial activation, and alpha-synuclein aggregation, just like gut bacteria did. Adding heat-killed gut bacteria had no effect.
New research indicates that Parkinson's disease may begin in the gastrointestinal tract and spread through the vagus nerve to the brain.
"We have conducted a registry study of almost 15,000 patients who have had the vagus nerve in their stomach severed. Between approximately 1970-1995 this procedure was a very common method of ulcer treatment. If it really is correct that Parkinson's starts in the gut and spreads through the vagus nerve, then these vagotomy patients should naturally be protected against developing Parkinson's disease,"
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"Our study shows that patients who have had the the entire vagus nerve severed were protected against Parkinson's disease. Their risk was halved after 20 years. However, patients who had only had a small part of the vagus nerve severed where not protected.
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The research has presented strong evidence that Parkinson's disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads via the vagus nerve to the brain. Many patients have also suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms before the Parkinson's diagnosis is made.
"Patients with Parkinson's disease are often constipated many years before they receive the diagnosis, which may be an early marker of the link between neurologic and gastroenterologic pathology related to the vagus nerve ,"
The research has presented strong evidence that Parkinson's disease begins in the gastrointestinal tract and spreads via the vagus nerve to the brain. Many patients have also suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms before the Parkinson's diagnosis is made.
@Marco too. If I understand you right, you're saying that the mouse model is simply susceptible to inflammation, and any source will do?So if you have an existing neuroinflammatory condition in the brain, any inflammation that exists in the gut is likely going to worsen the existing neuroinflammation, by this vagus nerve mechanism.
Gut inflammation may perhaps come from gut dysbiosis, or from a mild chronic infection of the gut with some mildly pathogenic bacterial species. So if you have a neuroinflammatory conditions, it make sense to keep you gut as heath and as inflammation-free as possible.
Smoking strongly reduces the risk of PD, suggesting that generic inflammation doesn't trigger PD.Smoking, drinking, fatty foods and a sedentary lifestyle are also known to affect inflammation and may exacerbate existing disease states. What we wouldn't then conclude is that these behaviours 'cause' the disease.
Ha, interesting.In the best traditions of medical science, another study just published found the reverse: that short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were lower in fecal samples of 34 Parkinson's disease patients.