Many are now looking at a symbiotic relationship between the gut microbiome and the immune system, mediated by factors such as an increased use of antibiotics, as being responsible for [the significant increase in incidents of food allergies, asthma and obesity]. More importantly, this research is pointing towards new potential preventive therapies involving the gut to help not just digestive diseases, but everything from diabetes to asthma and even autism and mental health issues.
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“Basically, the human is an incubator of bacteria,” says [Marc Ouellette, the scientific director of the Institute of Infection and Immunity at CIHR]. The large number of bacteria – mainly in the gut, but found throughout the body – play positive roles in helping digest food and other functions related to the immune system.
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Unpalatable though it may seem, the poster child for successful treatment approaches focusing on the gut microbiome has been fecal transplantation. According to Dr. Ouellette, using fecal transplants to treat Clostridium difficile infection has been the most dramatic example of the type of transitional medicine now being attempted as a result of gut microbiome research.
The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion, and analysis. Read full, original post: Gut science is radically changing what we know of the human body
