The Complex World of Microbes Posted on July 18th, 2012
Many of us in the world of complementary medicine have always known that the “gut” is the command post of the human body. Ask any practitioner and they will tell you that if you want to improve memory, if you want to improve energy and stamina, if you want to pain and inflammation to back off, or if you want to improve the respiratory system, you have to start with the gut. What you eat, how you digest it and the millions of microbes in the gut and their balance or imbalance, largely determine your over-all health. Odd that science has largely missed this obvious premise. But now, scientists are starting to study the micro-flora in the gut, and they are coming up with some surprising findings. For a hundred years, doctors have waged war on infections with antibiotics – but at what cost? Just look at TV advertizing for various preparations and OTC medications to treat toe nail fungus, vaginal yeast infections, eczema, psoriasis, dandruff, asthma and allergies, which are largely related to an imbalance of gut flora caused by the over-use of antibiotics. The wide-spread use of antibiotics has given rise to antibiotic resistant diseases such as C. difficile (Clostridium difficile) which can invade a person’s gut following a course of antibiotics. Since 2009, the number of hospitalized patients with C. dif has doubled from 139,000 to 336,000 cases. C. difficile is hard to eradicate. Finally science is discovering probiotics, acidophilus, lactobacillus biffidus something that we alternative types have known for years. Nice to see that scientists are discovering the garden of the gut. I just wonder what took them so long.