The Nice People Thread, No.16: A Universe of Niceness.

Pyxis

Serendipitously I just received an email from the BBC about a radio programme concerning the microbiome that lives in our bodies....and makes up 43% of us.

Anyway, research is being done on the effect of that microbiome on our health, and it is a thought that vaccines and antibiotics may have harmed it to the extent that that is why there is a rise in autoimmune diseases and allergies!


Do read this link, but an extract says:

"Antibiotics and vaccines have been the weapons unleashed against the likes of smallpox, Mycobacterium tuberculosis or MRSA.
That's been a good thing and has saved large numbers of lives.
But some researchers are concerned that our assault on the bad guys has done untold damage to our "good bacteria".
Prof Ley told me: "We have over the past 50 years done a terrific job of eliminating infectious disease.
"But we have seen an enormous and terrifying increase in autoimmune disease and in allergy.
"Where work on the microbiome comes in is seeing how changes in the microbiome, that happened as a result of the success we've had fighting pathogens, have now contributed to a whole new set of diseases that we have to deal with."
The microbiome is also being linked to diseases including inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinson's, whether cancer drugs work and even depression and autism."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43674270?ns_mchannel=email&ns_source=pan_newsletter&ns_campaign=PANUK_NLT_16_ENG_3month_TheButton&ns_linkname=bbcnews_morethanhalfyourbodyisnothuman_Curiosity_morethanhalfyourbodyisnothuman&ns_fee=0


It makes sense, because when did we start to develop super hygiene practices, eliminate bacteria and develop vaccines? The 19C!

The programme is on the radio TODAY:

"Listen to The Second Genome" Part 2of 3, on BBC Radio 4.
Airs 11:00 BST , repeated 21:00 BST,and on the BBC iPlayer

We've missed the first episode of three, which was last Tuesday and yesterday, but it is on iplayer.

Rinoa

Could be diet.

Before 1980 China was a rural country. People ate rice and a little veg or fruit. Modern diseases such as diabetes, MS, Rhumatoid arthritis were virtually unknown.

Then they started indutrialising. Got richer and started eating a 'western' diet. Now they have all the same diseases we have.

It's complicated for sure.

Pyxis

Rinoa wrote: »

Could be diet.

Before 1980 China was a rural country. People ate rice and a little veg or fruit. Modern diseases such as diabetes, MS, Rhumatoid arthritis were virtually unknown.

Then they started indutrialising. Got richer and started eating a 'western' diet. Now they have all the same diseases we have.

It's complicated for sure.

However, at the same time as countries like that start getting 'westernised', are they also ramping up the health of that country, with vaccination regimes and higher levels of antibiotic use? With the consequent effect on the microbiome?

I suppose it could be a consequence of both that and diet, as a western diet is not good for our intestinal flora and fauna.

LydiaJ

Your biome doesn't stay healthy for long once you've died of smallpox or cholera or something, though.

Here's hoping this topic can be studied sanely and won't get hijacked by the "modern medicine is evil", "the latest fad diet cures everything" and anti-vaccine brigades.

Pyxis

LydiaJ wrote: »

Your biome doesn't stay healthy for long once you've died of smallpox or cholera or something, though.

.

Oh I agree!

But I suppose there's always a trade-off.

Like side effects from some medicines.


Another factor which rarely gets mentioned is the effect of alcohol on the intestinal occupants.
I believe that regular over-indulgence can cause a massive imbalance of the bacteria etc. within.



By the way, for any night owls who might try visiting here after 10pm tonight......... the forum is being shut down until 6am for maintenance.

LydiaJ

Pyxis wrote: »

Oh I agree!

But I suppose there's always a trade-off.

Like side effects from some medicines.

Another factor which rarely gets mentioned is the effect of alcohol on the intestinal occupants.
I believe that regular over-indulgence can cause a massive imbalance of the bacteria etc. within.

By the way, for any night owls who might try visiting here after 10pm tonight......... the forum is being shut down until 6am for maintenance.

Yes absolutely.

michaels

Rinoa wrote: »

Could be diet.

Before 1980 China was a rural country. People ate rice and a little veg or fruit. Modern diseases such as diabetes, MS, Rhumatoid arthritis were virtually unknown.

Then they started indutrialising. Got richer and started eating a 'western' diet. Now they have all the same diseases we have.

It's complicated for sure.

I can see that a very simple diet would mean it would be very easy to have the right gut bugs to process it correctly and the more variety in foods and cooking methods the more complicated it becomes. I suspect volume is also involved, in a way previously population was limited by available calories, now we can all have many more calories than we actually need.

vivatifosi

I saw this news story and thought the NP would find it interesting. It's about fragments of a lost planet from our solar system being found in a meteorite in Sudan:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/17/diamonds-in-sudan-meteorite-are-remnants-of-lost-planet

Pyxis

vivatifosi wrote: »

I saw this news story and thought the NP would find it interesting. It's about fragments of a lost planet from our solar system being found in a meteorite in Sudan:

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/apr/17/diamonds-in-sudan-meteorite-are-remnants-of-lost-planet

Wow!

Interesting that they can deduce so much from it!


Was fascinated by the meteoritic diamonds, until I read how small they were!

However, I wouldn't say no to a small piece of a true meteorite set into a ring. It would be a piece of jewellery that would truly be out of this world!

GDB2222

We are about to go to "Bottomless Brunch Buffet - all you can eat for 90 minutes". I'm not sure I'm up to the challenge of getting my money's worth if I'm being timed.

It's all in the name of research, as DD is thinking of getting married there. We're not greedy b4stards really. Nom, nom, nom.