"Our Germs, Ourselves" | Arthritis Information
From Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2009/0330/070-our-germs.html
From the article:
"The cataloging of this vast undiscovered realm of microbes is
beginning to yield clues about stomach and intestinal ailments,
childhood diabetes, asthma and even adverse drug reactions. In one
recent study Chicago researchers found that mice engineered to get
childhood-onset diabetes were protected from the disease if implanted
with the right bacteria.
The research is still quite preliminary.
Scientists generally haven't proved that bacterial changes cause
chronic disease as opposed to merely being a result of it. But they
harbor hopes that they might someday treat all sorts of ailments by
adding or selectively killing bacteria. "This is dumb if we can't find
treatments," says Fredrik B??ckhed, a microbiologist at the University
of Gothenberg in Sweden."
Clues about adverse drug reactions - that was new to me! That would be great if they could find a way to prevent/manage that.
Interesting article! Aren't the microbes "activated" by antibiotics? Isn't that what causes diahrrea in some people taking antibiotics? I wish these folks would do some tests for RA. Who do we need to call? ;) I was thinking about eating Activia because I have digestive issues (think traffic jam). The last sentence of the article was downright scary though!! "A study last year in the
Lancet found that giving a probiotic supplement to people with severe acute pancreatitis led to more deaths." (I'd never heard of the
Lancet before so I googled - what a neat site!) Thank you for sharing!
[QUOTE=CO_Mel] The last sentence of the article was downright scary though!! "A study last year in the
Lancet found that giving a probiotic supplement to people with severe acute pancreatitis led to more deaths." (I'd never heard of the
Lancet before so I googled - what a neat site!) Thank you for sharing![/QUOTE]
Yes, I remember that came out last year, but it was a more extreme situation than just eating yogurt. My understanding is that they were hospitalized with acute pancreatitis and given supplements, not just yogurt. They were quite sick to begin with, but still I'd say be aware if you have any pancreas issues.
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