This cancer is on the rise in young adults-and doctors don't know why

"The rise in colorectal rates in younger adults has been parallel to the rise in the obesity epidemic, so it's reasonable to think that that's a factor" explains David Liska, MD, a colorectal surgeon the Cleveland Clinic. "Many of the risk factors for obesity are also risk factors for colon cancer. But I'm seeing a lot of younger patients who are a normal weight and have a healthy lifestyle, so there have to be other reasons."

One theory is that changes in the microbiome-the bacteria in your digestive tract- may be a factor, too." Younger adults may have been exposed to a lot of antibiotics as children, and eat more processed foods than their parents did," notes Mark Pochapin, MD, professor of medicine and director of the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at New York University Langone Health. "That, in turn may have altered their gut bacteria in ways that encourage cancer cells to grow."

http://a.msn.com/05/en-us/BBUUNcg?ocid=se

The Mind-Gut Connection

Is your gut a second brain? Emerging research is showing that our brains and our gastrointestinal sysems may be more connected than we previously thought-potentially holding profound influence over our moods, mental health and sense of well-beng. Our guests are Faith Dickerson, PhD, a psychologist who researches the role of infectious and immune factors in serious mental illness, and Emeran Mayer, MD, one of the world's leading experts on brain-gut interactions in GI disorders.

http://www.apa.org/research/action/speaking-of-psychology/mind-gut-connection

A gut bacteria transplant may not help you lose weight

Getting intestinal microbes from a lean person didn't help obese people drop pounds

In a preliminary study, obese people got either capsules containing gut microbes from a lean person or placebo pills. Microbes from the lean donor took hold in the guts of the obese recipients. But early results suggest that the bacteria didn't change the volunteers' weight or levels of a hormone that helps signal fullness, reported gastroenterologist Jessica Allegretti who directs the fecal microbiome transplant program at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/fecal-tra...acteria-microbiome-weight

The Human Microbiome Project expands the toolbox for studying host and microbiome interactions

The National Institutes fo Health (NIH) reports that new studies provide a framework for future studies on the role of the microbiome in health and disease.

https://www.nih.gov/news-events/news-releases...t-microbiome-interactions

Novel research links fibromyalgia chronic pain condition with gut microbiome alterations

A compelling new study from scientists at McGill University has, for the first time, described precise microbiome alterations that can be confidently correlated with fibromyalgia, a disease fundamentally characterized by widespread chronic pain. Fibromyalgia was only officially defined as a medical condition in 1990, and it is still a relatively mysterious disorder with no clear diagnostic test.

A cohort of 77 women with fibromyalgia were recruited, against a control of 79 healthy subjects. The fibromyalgia subjects displayed clearly identifiable microbiome compositions, distinct from those in the healthy control group.

[Comparison list of gut bugs in healthy and fibromyalgic group omitted.]

"By using machine learning, our computer was able to make a diagnosis of fibromyalgia, based only on the composition of the microbiome, with an accuracy of 87 per cent," says Emmanuel Gonzalez, a researcher on the project. "As we build on this first discovery with more research, we hope to improve upon this accuracy, potentially creating a step-change in diagnosis."

Much more at: https://newatlas.com/gut-bacteria-microbiome-chronic-pain-fibromyalgia/60245/