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Gut microbiome and environmental metals,toxins.

beaverfury

beaverfury
Messages
503
Location
West Australia
Interesting article on how our mysterious, bacteria ridden gut may be affecting our health.
Poorly edited by mon self :D for brevity's sake. I recommend reading the full article, if you dont have any parties to go to.


A Study in Balance: How Microbiomes Are Changing the Shape of Environmental Health

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3237378/
'New findings about the ways in which human microbiomes transform arsenic and mercury—two of our most prevalent and well-defined external human health hazards—suggest the role of commensal bacteria may equal or exceed that of genetic polymorphisms that regulate metal transformations within the body, says Ellen Silbergeld, a professor of environmental health sciences at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

To a toxicologist, a contaminant is only “in the body” once it has crossed from the external environment into circulating blood, or a cell, or an organ. But new findings suggest biologically relevant transformations may take place prior to absorption, when contaminants interact with the microbiome in the mouth, intestines, or other tissues. Because of the metabolic processes mediated by microbiomes, a great deal of what toxicologists attribute to human metabolism—such as methylation of arsenic—may actually take place at least in part before contaminants cross into the internal environment of our bodies.

Scientists agree that re-examining environ-mental exposures through the lens of the microbiome is likely to yield more insights into bacterial impacts. For instance, the ability of intestinal bacteria to demethylate methyl-mercury19 is important because the process could result in unexpected exposure to toxic inorganic mercury. “It is possible that [many people] may be internally exposed to inorganic mercury much more than we have ever calculated because of demethylation of the mercury we take in through fish consumption,” Silbergeld says.

The human intestinal microbiome appears to fall into one of three distinct enterotypes, or bacterial profiles. Analysis of 39 intestinal microbiome metagenomes of adults from four European countries, the United States, and Japan indicates individuals have one of these three enterotypes, which are characterized by higher proportions of Bacteroides, Prevotella, or Ruminococcus species.11 The enterotypes cross international and continental borders, as well as race, ethnicity, sex, and age. It is too soon to know how the three enterotypes differ in their ability to process environmental agents.

In adulthood the composition of microbiomes is influenced not only by host genetics but also by the environment, diet, and other factors.4,5,6,7 If the composition of a microbiome changes, the range of services it provides its human host also may shift.
New evidence indicates our microbiomes are, in fact, “chemical factories” that produce a complex set of molecules, including druglike compounds and peptides that act as neurotransmitters.
One family of microbes may biotransform contaminants into a new form, whereas another group may transform that new form back into its previous form or into something completely new with completely different biological activity.'


So who knows what our microbiome is doing to us? Mine are making me incredibly dumb, whilst still being quite adorable and humble. In some ways they seem to own us, as this science dude points out-
“We may exist at the pleasure of the microbes.”'
 
Messages
445
Location
Georgia
Bring on the fecal transplants !

Just watch FT therapy some day be the only thing to really help us. What an irony. After all these lab tests, theorizing by scientists, spending countless thousands to visit worthless doctors. It would not surprise me at all.
 

Rrrr

Senior Member
Messages
1,591
fyi: NPR article (http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...-backs-off-on-regulation-of-fecal-transplants) on how the fda is backing off from proposed regulation of fecal microbiome transplants (FMT).

they were going to call poop a "drug," making it harder for patients and doctors to do FMT. they have backed off from that, thereby saving the lives of patients who need FMTs to live (i.e. C Diff patients).

yes, i am still doing the home administered transplants about 1-2x/month (i started doing them early january 2013) and they help A LOT to regulate my bowel movements: if i do them intermittently, they ameliorate my chronic constipation that i got from antibiotics and from the wretched disease ME/CFS. i firmly believe that anyone with gut issues of any sort should strongly consider doing FMTs. they are extraordinarily effective and helpful. of course you need to screen the FMT donor first. if you want the info on how, just let me know and i'll email the protocols.

in the future there will be synthetic poop available, so no human donor will be needed. here is an article on that.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/201...s-synthetic-poop-to-treat-stubborn-infections
 

Dufresne

almost there...
Messages
1,039
Location
Laurentians, Quebec
Dietary mercury has become a whole lot more toxic to me in the last couple years. I think this is due to gut bacteria converting inorganic mercury to the organic form. KDM has spoken about this. Apparently the organic form is in the order of 50 times more toxic than the inorganic. The effect on me is that I feel a horrible nervous agitation at night when lying in bed. The only thing to relieve this is DMSA, which I believe confirms the problem to be mercury.
 

xchocoholic

Senior Member
Messages
2,947
Location
Florida
So it looks like doing chelation alone isn't the answer.

This may explain why i got such a severe case of h pylori too. This bacteria
needs a certain metal to exist. I have to Google it again.

Tx .... x
 

knackers323

Senior Member
Messages
1,625
Anyone been tested for environmental toxins other than metals or know what the treatment is?

As to heavy metals do hit c, FIR saunas, ozone therapy get them out?