Linkage: Gut Bacteria and Gut Health

Another fascinating study of our microbiome was released today by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine.   Apparently, a sample of women's guts over five years showed little change -- indicating our gut microbiome is relatively stable (or stagnant?) over time, and suggesting our guts may carry bacteria from childhood.  Whew!  (For more information, visit Dr. Jeffrey Gordon's Lab Page.)  

I need to explore the microbiome studies more on Cranky Gerd.  I am getting obsessed with this topic and its implications!   Here are a few links to get us going.  I am still comprehending the fact that the human body's bacteria grossly outnumbers our human cells by the millions trillions.  

LINKAGE

NPR All Things Considered, July 4, 2013, Gut Bacteria We Pick Up As Kids Stick With Us For Decades

May 2013, UCLA Newsroom: Changing Gut Bacteria Through Diet Affects Brain Function

An article on the topic in the August 2012 Nutrition Action Newsletter, Living in a Microbial World

US News, September 2012, discusses study: Changes in Intestinal Bacteria Linked to Type 2 Diabetes

Homepage of the National Institutes of Health, Human Microbiome Project

New York Times, May 15, 2013, Some of My Best Friends are Germs, by Michael Pollan

The New Yorker, April 17, 2013, A Roller Derby of Bacteria

Microbiome, a scientific open-access journal

Probiotics, Prebiotics, and the Host Microbiome: The Science of Translation, a June 2013 webinar hosted by the New York Academy of Sciences (the webinar itself is not online but there is a wealth of abstracts, names and references here)

June 2013 Medscape video featuring microbiome researcher Dr. Scott Peterson talking about "The Microbiome: Linking Bacteria, Health, and Disease"

Nature: Human Microbiota special issue

Added 7/12/13:

New York Times, July 6, 2013, Why I Donated My Stool by Marie Myung-Ok Lee