The Pros And Cons Of Gut Microbiome Bacteria

* There exists a highly adapted range of bacteria present in the human gut that are inherited maternally.

These diseases are more common in affluent, Western countries, and are also seen in immigrants to these countries. According to the hygiene hypothesis, many childhood diseases can be attributed to too clean of an environment. (Neu, 2011). The human body is made up of 100 trillion cells. There are 10 times this many intestinal microorganisms. Estimations project that there are 100 times as many genes in aggregate of intestinal flora than there are in the human genome. These bacteria are basically like a vital organ when considering their metabolic function. Gut bacteria promote the intestinal mucosal immune system. Microorganisms and humans have developed a co-dependence. Microorganisms react to the drastically changing environment with increased inflammatory responses such as psychological stress, inappropriate diet (specifically the exponential increase of processed food), toxins, and cesarean delivery. The extent of chronic inflammatory disorders is potentially far larger than previously assumed including allergies, inflammatory bowel disease, autoimmunity, vascular disease, depression, anxiety, cancer, and possibly type 2 diabetes and neurodegenerative disorders. Children delivered by CD have a much higher chance to have celiac disease and gastroenteritis. Gut bacteria police their environment with toll-like receptors and pattern recognition. Gut flora influences oral

While mothers have the choice of what they would rather do with their child, the more healthier option would be to breastfeed. The breast milk from mothers contain a protein called lysosomes that help kill the bacteria the baby may have

An offspring’s microbial composition is initially determined through maternal transmission in utero and during birth, however, after delivery, the microbiota is not fixed and may be changed by a multitude of environmental factors. The mode of delivery (vaginal or caesarean section), diet, and many other factors continue to play dynamic roles throughout an individual’s lifetime (Marques et al., 2010). Recent studies have indicated that maternal and neonatal nutrition significantly alter the epigenome of offspring, with the food consumed during pregnancy modulating the gut microbiota as well as the metabolites produced (Turnbaugh et al., 2009). Dietary intervention studies indicate that the diet sensitive nature of the gut persists throughout life, and that the gut microbiota often responds rapidly to changes in diet (Hullar & Fu, 2014). More specifically, dietary alterations modulate the exposure of the host to microbial metabolites (such as butyrate) which could have a multiplicity of epigenetic effects in the offspring (Duncan et al., 2007).

In an unfortunate event, a child may end up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) with sever to life threatening ailments. What most people don’t realize is that these children, on average, show signs of weakened immune system and a decrease in their bacteria diversity, also known as their microbiome health. According to a Pennsylvania researcher, Matthew Rogers and his associates, there is evidence that the diversity of critically ill children is far lower when compared to a healthy child. The larger the diversity of your microbiome, the healthier a person is believed to be, which could account for a correlation between a decreasing microbiome diversity and an increase in disease risk.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; most healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) such as staph or MERSA are dropping except for one: Clostridium difficile infections or CDI which causes an estimated 14,000 diarrhea related deaths in America each year. Clostridium difficile is a gram positive, anaerobic bacteria that can produce exotoxins, form spores and is beginning to show increased resistance to antimicrobial treatment. Symptoms of CDI include watery diarrhea, fever, loss of appetite, nausea and abdominal tenderness (CDC 2011). The usual treatment for CDI is first to cease use of any antibiotics that first may have caused the CDI. If symptoms do not improve, then a stronger course of antibiotics is usually done but CDI has a high rate of reoccurrence. In a double-blind, randomized trial comparing the efficacy of fidaxomicin vs. vancomycin in treating CDI the reoccurrence rate was 15.4% for fidaxomicin and 25.3 for% for vancomycin (Louie et al. 2011). There is, however, a solution with a cure rate upwards of 90% with no chance of increasing antimicrobial resistance; the fecal microbial transplant (FMT). A fecal microbial transplant involves taking a fresh stool sample from donors screened for transmissible disease and parasite infection, diluting it with sterile saline or milk and administering via nasoduodenal tube or enema (van Nood et al. 20013). The donor may be any healthy, medically screened adult, either an unrelated stranger or a family

Vaginal Seeding is the concept of swabbing a baby, born via cesarean section, with vaginal fluid from the mother to replicate the process of collecting flora while traveling through the birth canal. The reason for this concept is to expose the infant to the mother’s natural interior and exterior bacteria. These bacteria are thought to assist in alleviating certain conditions thought to be more closely associated with children born by way of C-section. While there appears to have been several studies and comparisons done on children born vaginally and children born via C-section, the debate stands whether the pros of the procedure outweigh the cons. There are some doctor’s and parents alike who agree with the concept and think it to be beneficial for the child. However, there are others who use lack of evidence and potential dangers of the technique as a premise of its many criticisms.

Gut microbiota changes in our body from birth to old age. The fetal intestinal tract is sterile until birth, after which the newborn tract begins to be colonized. Infants are exposed to a great variety of microorganisms from different environments during and immediately after birth, either in their encounter with their maternal vagina or by the cutaneous microorganisms depending on the type of delivery. Infants have lower intestinal bacteria counters with less diversity in the early weeks of life. Different method of feeding influences the microbiota. Until 2-3 years old, microbiota become similar to the adult microbiota. After that, it becomes stable until old age. Genetic factors such as obesity influence the development of gut microbiota.

According to the hot lens, Yong’s article, “Gut bacteria in Japanese people borrowed sushi-digesting genes from ocean bacteria” is a quite decent article. However, in just the second paragraph of the article it seems a little exaggerated from him because he says that, “The genes are wielded by the hordes of bacteria lurking in the guts of every Japanese person, but not by those in American intestines.” (p. 1), he claims that “every” Japanese person has this type of organism. This is a pretty strong statement he makes about all Japanese people having this complex breaking down organism.

Bacterial vaginosis regard as a polymicrobial syndrome characterized and induced by an imbalance of the ordinary vaginal microflora which include a shift in the composition of the vaginal microbiota from a Lactobacillus dominated community to a polymicrobial community, dominated by anaerobes (Spiegel 1991, Giraldo et al., 2007; Schwebke, 2009) bacterial vaginosis now found to be to predispose to various gynaecological and obstetric problems (Stephen, 2006 ).

Biedermann, L., & Rogler, G. (2015). The intestinal microbiota: its role in health and disease. European Journal Of Pediatrics, 174(2), 151-167. doi:10.1007/s00431-014-2476-2

When bacteria are thought of, germs and sickness come to mind. Bacteria is the stuff that you don’t want to encounter because it will make you sick. Many times, this an accurate assumption. There is Escherichia coli; these gram-negative bacteria cause diarrheas and can sometimes cause urinary tract infections pneumonia. They can be difficult to treat due to drug resistance. (Center for Disease Control, 2017) There are gram positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus or “staph”) Staph as its commonly called can cause skin infections like boils and cellulitis. Most staph infections are not life threatening but they can become so in the form of sepsis, pneumonia and osteomyelitis (Minnesota Department of Health Fact Sheet, 2010) There are food borne bacteria such as Clostridium botulinum are anaerobic, rod shaped bacteria that causes the disease botulism. Botulism is a life-threatening disease that affects the nervous system it is commonly associated with improperly done home canning. (WHO, 2016) While there is no argument that there are many bacteria that we as humans would do will to stay away from it is also true that we need microorganisms in our lives. From disposing of bacteria in waste water to vaccines to the food we eat we rely on bacteria to keep us healthy.

B. Infants - The acteria that is passed on from mother to baby in order to kick start the development of the probiotic microbiota in infants. It has also been associated with relieving and reducing irritable bowel

The human gut microbiome has appeared in some recent studies to be a potential reason for why 180 million children worldwide suffer stunting, a case in which the child can become mentally retarded or infected with diseases. Even with malnourishment, the right balance of gut microbiomes can lead to a healthy growth, while their imbalance can lead to stunting. William Petri, Jr. worked on infants in Bangladesh for years with his team, but the team was not successful to utilize the dietary supplements to counteract malnourishment. However, William has found the results about gut microbiomes to be enlightening. He teamed up with Tahmeed Ahmed and Jeffrey Gordon to examine stool samples from different Bangladeshi infants and compared the results

Can the use of probiotic supplements reduce the rate of respiratory symptoms and illness in children?