From: rpattree2@gmail.com   
      
   Confirmed - Your Digestive System Dictates Whether You're Sick or Well    
      
   January 02, 2013 | 313,780 views    
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    Digestive System    
   Story at-a-glance +    
   By Dr. Mercola    
      
   More and more, science is finding that teeny tiny creatures living in your gut   
   are there for a definite purpose. Known as your microbiome, about 100 trillion   
   of these cells populate your body, particularly your intestines and other   
   parts of your    
   digestive system.    
      
   In fact, 90 percent of the genetic material in your body is not yours, but   
   rather that of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microorganisms that compose   
   your microflora.    
      
   True, some of these bacteria can make you sick; for example, the National   
   Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases recently found Crohn's Disease may   
   be caused by immune responses to certain gut microbiota.    
      
   But the majority are good, and they work together as helpmates to aid your   
   digestive system and keep you well. Beneficial bacteria, better known as   
   probiotics, along with a host of other microorganisms, are so crucial to your   
   health that researchers have    
   compared them to "a newly recognized organ." For example, we now know that   
   your microflora influence your:    
      
   Genetic expression    
   Immune system    
   Brain development, mental health, and memory    
   Weight, and    
   Risk of numerous chronic and acute diseases, from diabetes to cancer    
   According to the featured article in Time Magazine:1    
      
   "Our surprisingly complex internal ecology has been a hot topic in medicine   
   lately. Initiatives such as the Human Microbiome Project2, an extension of the   
   Human Genome Project, have been working tirelessly to probe potential links   
   between the human    
   microbiota and human health, and to construct strategies for manipulating the   
   bacteria so that they work with us rather than against us.    
      
   ...They've been linked to a range of nasty conditions, including obesity,   
   arthritis, and high cholesterol. Now, two newer areas of research are pushing   
   the field even further, looking at the possible gut bug link to a pair of very   
   different conditions:    
   autism and irritable bowel disease."    
      
   Microflora Being Investigated to Ascertain Links with Autism and IBS    
      
   This is precisely what Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's work centers around, and   
   her Gut and Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) nutritional plan is designed to   
   reestablish proper gut flora in order to heal and seal your gut - thereby   
   reversing and eliminating    
   ailments running the gamut from autism, ADD/ADHD, learning disorders, and   
   obsessive-compulsive disorder, just to name a few possibilities. It's exciting   
   to see science is starting to take this more seriously, as autism has reached   
   epidemic proportions.    
      
   According to the featured Time article:3    
      
   "Up to 85 percent of children with autism also suffer from some kind of   
   gastrointestinal distress such as chronic constipation or inflammatory bowel   
   disease. Research published in 2005 in the Journal of Medical Microbiology and   
   in 2004 in Applied    
   Environmental Microbiology4 reported that the stools of autistic children   
   contained higher levels of the bacterium Clostridium,while two 2010 studies in   
   the Journal of Proteome Research5 and Nutritional Neuroscience6 reported   
   unusual levels of metabolic    
   compounds in autistic children's urine consistent with the high bacterial   
   levels found in the stools of autistic patients.    
      
   In 2011, a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences   
   found that mice with essentially germ-free guts showed abnormal movement and   
   anxiety symptoms, suggesting that at least some active intestinal biome is   
   essential for normal    
   development.    
      
   'Until a little while ago it was outlandish to suggest that microbiomes in the   
   gut could be behind this disease,' University of Guelph assistant professor of   
   biology Emma Allen-Vercoe said. 'But I think it's an intersection between the   
   genetics of the    
   patient and the microbiome and the environment.'"    
      
   Recent research published in the journal Science7 may shed much needed light   
   on the persistent and hard-to-treat nature of irritable bowel disease (IBD).   
   The researchers infected mice with Toxoplasma gondii, a parasite associated   
   with lethal food-borne    
   illness.    
      
   Interestingly, when the immune system of the mouse reacted to the presence of   
   the parasite, it also began overreacting to beneficial bacteria. In fact,   
   while about 10 percent of the T cells in the GI tract attacked the parasite,   
   approximately 45 percent    
   of the T cells began attacking other gut microbes. Furthermore, once the   
   parasite had been successfully cleared, the immune system continued to   
   misidentify beneficial bacteria as a foreign agents, preventing the mice from   
   ever fully recovering from the    
   infection. As stated by Time:    
      
   "If something similar happens in humans - either with Toxoplasma gondii or   
   another invader - it could go a long way to explaining both the existence and   
   persistence of all of the IBD conditions."    
      
   According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases:8    
      
   "The team's findings are among the first to demonstrate that T cells in the   
   gut mount an immune response to commensal bacteria [normal microflora] during   
   an infection. They also are the first to show that commensal-specific T cells   
   remain in circulation    
   after the infection is cleared. Based on their observations, the investigators   
   speculate that, when uncontrolled, commensal-specific T cells may contribute   
   to development of Crohn's disease, but more research is needed."    
      
   Who Would Have Known? Breast Milk Boosts Beneficial Growth of Gut Flora    
      
   Adding more weight to Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride's insistence that   
   breastfeeding is crucial to help normalize an infant's microflora (hence   
   protecting against disease and developmental problems), a first-of-its-kind   
   study on human breast milk and its    
   impact on infants' gut flora gives new insight on why breast milk is better   
   than formula at protecting newborns from infectious illness.9    
      
   The study's author, William Parker, explained that breast milk appears to   
   promote a healthy colonization of beneficial biofilms. Previous research has   
   already established that breast milk reduces diarrhea, flu, and respiratory   
   infections in babies, as    
   well as lowers their risk of developing allergies, Type 1 diabetes, multiple   
   sclerosis and other diseases.    
      
   According to Duke University:10    
      
      
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