by Cristina Sáez
An international team of scientists has studied diaper samples of nearly 650 healthy 1-year-old babies for 5 years and has discovered 10,000 species of viruses, most of them unknown until now. Far from causing children to be sick, those viruses are thought to be true allies, playing an important role in protecting us from chronic diseases.
by Andreu Prados, Rene van den Wijngaard
NeuroGASTRO 2023, the leading meeting in Europe held by ESNM on the latest developments in neurogastroenterology, digestive motility, and disorders of the gut-brain interaction, took place from August 31st to September 2nd, 2023. Find out more what the latest research says about the involvement of the intestinal microbiota, mast cells, eosinophils and gut barrier in disorders of gut-brain interaction and dietary considerations in their management picked up by GMFH editors (Part 1).
While SIBO is not new, it has recently gained popularity on the internet and on social media as the result of a set of non-specific symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, and even chronic fatigue. In this post, we will discuss what SIBO is and what it is not, its roots, symptoms, diagnosis, and management.
by Andrea Costantino
Chronic abdominal pain, diarrhea, constipation, and bloating are common gastrointestinal symptoms. While a structural or an organic disease can be suspected because of the symptoms and is often easy to be diagnosed by endoscopy or imaging methods, sometimes gastrointestinal symptoms are not related to any alteration that may be seen through diagnostic techniques, and consequently have been classified under the umbrella of “disorders of gut-brain interaction”.
The microorganisms that live in and on our body have been implicated in a variety of health functions and diseases. Two microbiologists comment on certain common assumptions about the human microbiota, including that it weighs 2 kg and is altered in case of obesity.
by Andreu Prados
Fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) has shown to be efficient in recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection and is being researched in clinical trials for other conditions, but its mechanisms of action remain poorly understood. Two new studies shed light on factors that predict clinical success in FMT.
Restricting dietary fiber is a common advice for people living with inflammatory bowel disease. New research shows that not all fibers work the same and their impact on intestinal inflammation and gut barrier function depends on the type of fiber, individual immune status and the fermentative capacity of their gut microbes.
by Amber Hann, Heather Galipeau
Inflammatory bowel disease is a chronic remitting and relapsing condition that causes severe inflammation of the intestines and disabling bowel symptoms. It affects millions of lives globally, and although alterations in the gut microbiome have been associated with IBD, precise mechanisms remain incompletely understood. New research from McMaster University now implicates bacterial proteases in Crohn’s disease.
by Andreu Prados, Patrice D. Cani
Studies over the last decade have brought new hope that gut microbiome-targeted therapeutics might offer novel treatments for obesity. In this post, we ask whether dietary interventions, prebiotics, probiotics and medication that target the microbiome are useful for weight management.
by Andreu Prados
While the most popular microbiota you may have heard about is that of the gut, the vagina has a microbiota too. Find out more about the relationship between the two and why taking care of the gut microbiota matters for the vaginal microbiota.
