![\"\"](\"http:\/\/geraldguild.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/bacteria.jpg\" "\\"bacteria\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n
Since wide spread acceptance of the Germ Theory<\/em><\/a>, in the late nineteenth century, we have considered bacteria as the enemy.\u00a0 These organisms are germs after all, and germs make us sick.\u00a0 This is accurate in many ways: acceptance and application of the germ theory vastly extended the human life expectancy (from 30 years in the Dark Ages to 60 years in the 1930s). \u00a0 Other advances have since increased that expectancy to about 80 years.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But, as we are increasingly becoming aware, this microbiome plays a crucial role in our ability to live in the first place.\u00a0 There are “good” and “bad” microbes.\u00a0 But this dichotomy is not so black and white.\u00a0 Some good microbes turn problematic only if they get in the wrong place (e.g., sepsis<\/a> and peritonitis<\/a>).\u00a0 But what we must accept is that we would not survive without the good ones.\u00a0 We are just beginning to learn of the extent to which they control our health and even our moods.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For example, some of our nutritive staples would be of very limited value if it wasn’t for Baceroides thetaiotaomicron<\/em>.\u00a0 This microbe in our stomach has the job of breaking down complex<\/span> carbohydrates found in foods such as oranges, apples, potatoes, and wheat germ.\u00a0 Without this microbe we simply do not have the capability to digest such carbohydrates.(1)<\/sup>\u00a0 And this is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The “beneficial” bacteria in our guts are clearly very important.\u00a0 They compete with the harmful bacteria, they help us digest our food, and they help our bodies produce vitamins that we could not synthesize on our own.(3)<\/sup>\u00a0 Surprisingly, these microbes may play a significant role in our mood.\u00a0 A recent study looking at the bacteria lacto bacillus<\/em>, fed to mice, resulted in a significant release of the neurotransmitter gaba which is known to have a calming affect.\u00a0 When this relationship was tested in humans we discovered a relationship between such gut bacteria and calmness to a therapeutic level consistent with the efficacy of anti-anxiety pharmaceuticals.(2)<\/sup>\u00a0 This alone is amazing.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But wait, there’s more.\u00a0 Take for example Helicobacter pylori<\/em> (H pylori<\/em>) whose job seems to be regulating acid levels in the stomach.\u00a0 It acts much like a thermostat by producing proteins that communicate with our cells signaling the need to tone down acid production.\u00a0 Sometimes things go wrong and these proteins actually provoke gastric ulcers.\u00a0 This discovery resulted in an all out war on H pylori<\/em> through the use of antibiotics. \u00a0 Two to three generations ago more than 80% of Americans hosted this bacteria.\u00a0 Now, since the discovery of the connection with gastric ulcers, less than 6% of American school children test positive for it.(1)<\/sup>\u00a0 This is a good thing! Right?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Perhaps not.\u00a0 As we have recently come to discover, H pylori<\/em> plays an important role in our experience of hunger.\u00a0 Our stomach produces two hormones that regulate food intake.\u00a0 Ghrelin (the hunger hormone), tells your brain that you need food.\u00a0 Leptin, the second hormone, signals the fact that your stomach is full.\u00a0 Ghrelin is ramped up when you have not eaten for a while.\u00a0 Exercise also seems to boost Ghrelin levels.\u00a0 Eating food diminishes Ghrelin levels.\u00a0 Studies have shown that H pylori<\/em> significantly regulates Ghrelin levels and that without it your Ghrelin levels may be unmediated thus leading to a greater appetite and excessive caloric intake.(1)<\/sup>\u00a0 Sound like a familiar crisis?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The long and the short of this latter example is that we really do not understand the down stream consequences of our widespread use of antibiotics.\u00a0 Obesity may be one of those consequences.\u00a0 When we take antibiotics, they do not specifically target the bad bacteria, they affect the good bacteria as well.\u00a0 Its not just medical antibiotics that cause problems – we have increasingly created a hygienic environment that is hostile to our microbiome.\u00a0 We are increasingly isolating ourselves from exposure to good and bad bacteria, and some suggest that this is just making us sicker.\u00a0 See the Hygiene Hypothesis<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We have co-evolved with our microbiome and as such have developed an “immune system that depends on the constant intervention of beneficial bacteria.<\/em>.. [and] over the eons the immune system has evolved numerous checks and balances that generally prevent it from becoming either too aggressive (and attacking it’s own tissue) or too lax (and failing to recognize dangerous pathogens)<\/em>.”(1) <\/sup>\u00a0 Bacteroides fragilis (B fragilis<\/em>) for example has been found to have a profoundly important and positive impact on the immune system\u00a0 by keeping it in balance through “boosting it’s anti-inflammatory arm<\/em>.”\u00a0 Auto immune diseases such as Chrones Disease, Type 1 Diabetes, and Multiple Sclerosis have increased recently by a factor of 7-8.\u00a0 Concurrently we have changed our relationship with the microbiome.(1)<\/sup> This relationship is not definitively established but it clearly merits more research.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Gaining a better understanding of the microbiome is imperative, and is, I dare say, the future of medicine.\u00a0 We humans are big and strong, but we can be taken down by single celled organisms. And if we are not careful stewards of our partners in life, these meek organisms may destroy us.\u00a0 It is certain that they will live on well beyond our days.\u00a0 Perhaps they shall reclaim the biotic world they created.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Author’s Note:<\/strong>\u00a0 This article was written in part as a summary of\u00a0 (1) Jennifer Ackerman’s article The Ultimate Social Network<\/a> in Scientific American (June 2012).\u00a0 Information was also drawn from (2) a Radio Lab podcast titled GUTS<\/a> from April of 2012 and (3) a story on NPR by Allison Aubrey called Thriving Gut Bacteria Linked to Good Health<\/a> in July of 2012.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We humans like to think of ourselves as strong and dominant forces.\u00a0 Why shouldn’t we?\u00a0 After all, we have conquered many of our natural foes and reign supreme as rational and commanding masters of our destiny.\u00a0 That is what we like to think.\u00a0 But this may be an illusion because as it turns out, we … <\/p>\n