Q. I’ve heard that the bacteria and other germs that live in our intestines can affect our brain, including whether we get some brain diseases. Can that be true? If so, how does that happen?
A. It very likely is true. More than a century ago we discovered that bacteria live in our intestines, in our mouth and nose, and on our skin. Indeed, they’ve been doing so ever since the very first humans walked the earth. We knew that very few types of bacteria could cause diseases in the gut. However, until the past 15 years, most doctors (myself included) assumed that the vast majority of the bacteria normally living in our gut were just freeloaders, taking advantage of the warmth and nutrients in our body to remain alive. We didn’t imagine that they might affect our health.
Over the past 15 years, though, we’ve learned that these gut bacteria are capable of producing substances that affect the cells in our body because some of those substances are similar or identical to substances that our own cells make.
So, how can bacteria in the gut affect the brain? Substances made by bacteria in the gut can get into the blood, just like nutrients in our food travel from the gut into the blood. Also, certain nerves connect the brain and the gut: bacteria in the gut can send signals through those nerves to the brain. Finally, gut bacteria can stimulate immune system cells in the wall of the gut, and the immune cells then can send signals through the nerves to the brain.
Research in the past decade has found that gut bacteria may influence our emotions and cognitive capabilities. For example, some bacteria make oxytocin, a hormone our own bodies produce that encourages increased social behavior. Other bacteria make substances that cause symptoms of depression and anxiety. Still, others make substances that help us to be calmer under stress. (Yes, I know: I want some more of those bacteria, too.)
Finally, gut bacteria also have been shown to influence our vulnerability to certain brain diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and autism. For example, a substance called synuclein, found in the brains of people with Parkinson’s disease, is made by gut bacteria and can travel via nerves from the gut to the brain.
Recognizing the roles that the bacteria (and viruses and other microbes) inside us appear to play in our health, even in our personality, has been one of the most important discoveries of the past 50 years. Yet we are just beginning to understand it, and how to change the microbes within us in ways that will improve our health. It may take another 20 years, but I think we’ll figure it out.
— Anthony L. Komaroff, M.D.
Editor in Chief, Harvard Health Letter
Bible verses for today’s meditation and inspiration: Matthew E. McLaren’
Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. Jeremiah 29:12 NIV
Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Romans 12:12 NIV
And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Matthew 6:7 NIV
The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. Psalm 145:18 NIV
‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20 NIV
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NIV
who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Matthew 6:6 NIV
Recommended contacts for prayer requests and Bible study
https://www.hopechannel.com/au/learn/courses
http://www.nadadventist.org/article/15/contact-us
https://3abn.org/all-streams/3abn.html
https://www.adventist.org/en/utility/contact/
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