Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is a challenge; it is the most common reason for referral to gastroenterology clinics. Researchers in Malaysia published Microbiome and Irritable Bowel Syndrome – A Review on the Pathophysiology, Current Research and Future Therapy. The excellent overview appeared June 2019 in Frontiers in Microbiology journal. Highlights for our purposes were the […]
microbiome
Big Money Pours into Microbiome Research
Money talks and we listen. Since the year 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (over 50 billion USD in assets) has poured billions into tackling the world’s most pressing health problems such as malaria and infectious disease. Now the philanthropists are embracing gut microbes. Like most of us in the probiotic industry, Bill and Melinda Gates believe in the promise of […]
Aging Microbiomes: A New Wrinkle for the Elderly
Expect to live at least a few decades longer than your ancestors born a century ago. That’s the good news. Unfortunately, not all of those bonus years promise the joys of good health. Aging bodies and minds are much more susceptible to disease. Aging changes are inevitable and built into the DNA of every cell. The […]
Microbes Need Care in the ICU
While often life-saving, hospitals can be dangerous to your health. Exposed to infections, lack of sleep and poor nutrition, patients may spiral down into the intensive care unit (ICU) where two critical illnesses are common: sepsis and acute respiratory failure. A role for microbes Microbes are emerging as key players in the genesis, advance and […]
Targeting Obesity through Microbiome: Update
In a world grower fatter by the day (1.9 billion overweight and obese), science is searching for answers to the pandemic. There are no easy ones. Obesity is complicated; genetics, lifestyle and the environment create an imperfect storm inside the body. Recent evidence points to the gut microbiome as one important risk factor. Indeed, the […]
Travel Changes You, and Your Microbes Too
Travel can be rewarding, financially if it’s for work and emotionally when it’s for play or to visit loved ones. The downsides too are well-known: flight delays, uncomfortable seats, annoying seatmates and jet lag. Another to consider is how our microbes fare when flown across vast time zones to lands where even food and water […]