CS doe not generally kill bacteria in the gut.
Marshall
Rowena wrote:
People new to CS sometimes worry that while killing off "bad"
bacteria in the gut, the CS might also kill off "good" ones.
If the people below are correct, that may not be a worry at all.
Rowena
http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#more-222
<http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#more-222>
http://bacteriality.com/ <http://bacteriality.com/>
Long article. Quotes below:
Finally, bacteria enter the picture ? the rise of metagenomics
and the Human Microbiome Project
The paradigm shift described above, in which genetic mutations are
viewed in a new light, has been largely fueled by a new movement in
which scientists are now beginning to use molecular technology to
detect and sequence bacteria in lieu of simply trying to grow them in
the lab. These tools will allow researchers to bypass the need to
culture bacteria, exploring the human microbiome by studying genes en
masse, rather than studying the organisms themselves.
Recent studies that have used powerful molecular tools rather than
standard cultivation techniques have left scientists slack-jawed at
the number of bacterial DNA sequences that correspond to bacteria yet
to be named or sequenced. A great number of sequences also correspond
to bacteria never thought to have the capability of living on or
within the human body. It has recently become all too clear that only
a fraction of the bacteria capable of infecting humans grow in the
lab, and that we have been oblivious to the presence of the majority
of pathogens capable of entering our bodies. This realization that we
harbor myriad unnamed and unidentified microbes comes at a time when
the Human Genome Project is failing to capitalize on its promise to
identify root causes for human disease.
As Mullard admits, ?The microbes that swarm in and on the human body
have always held a certain fascination for researchers. Since so few
of them grow in the lab, it has been difficult to work out exactly who
these microbial passengers are and how they interact with one
another.? Whereas over the past century, standard laboratory culturing
techniques have failed to detect the vast number of pathogens capable
of infecting human beings, recent advances in molecular technology
that allow for the sequencing of bacterial DNA mean that, at long
last, we may be able to successfully identify and sequence the
bacteria that cause disease.?
The reality is that the plethora of unknown pathogens that colonize
the human body are the previously unrecognized puzzle piece behind
chronic inflammatory disease. Enter metagenomics, a relatively new
field of research that, thanks to advanced molecular techniques,
enables researchers to study organisms not easily cultured in a
laboratory as well as organisms in their natural environment.
..........................
This isn?t to say that there aren?t species of gut bacteria that can
provide a benefit to their host. Yet increasing evidence points to the
fact that the vast majority of gut bacteria are actually responsible
for causing many bowel diseases previously considered to be of
?unknown? cause. When faced with the large number of different
inflammatory bowel diseases and the fact that a tremendous number of
uncharacterized bacteria inhabit the gut, it?s logical that there?s a
connection between the two phenomena. Of course, Marshall?s /in
silico/ work, as well as data derived from the MP study site shows
that patients who kill large numbers of gut bacteria end up recovering
from a number of bowel diseases, providing a good deal of support for
the above hypothesis.
This all invokes the rather controversial question, ?Do humans really
need gut bacteria?? Those patients to spend long periods of time on
the MP have killed a great deal of their gut bacteria, yet seem to
have GI tracts that function properly. Marshall has conceded that
?good? gut bacteria could potentially exist, but as of yet, he has
simply seen no evidence of a species that offers humans a benefit.
..........................
Rather than viewing the majority of them as ?friends,? we may
unfortunately have to face the fact that many of them are enemies, or
at least not necessary for our well-being. It still remains unclear if
humans would want to be completely bacteria-free if the option
existed, but the possibility that a person would be in better health
without bacteria is nevertheless an intriguing possibility. Or perhaps
in the future, humans will be able to pick and choose the bacteria
that will inhabit their guts, in order to harbor certain species that
fit their specific needs.
.........................
Several studies support the possibility that chronic bacteria can
infect the stem cells. A team of German researchers recently showed
that patients who had suffered a heart attack (an event most likely
caused by chronic bacterial forms in the heart and blood vessels) had
stem cells which were only about half as effective at repairing the
heart tissue as stem cells transplanted from healthy 20 year-old
males. This supports the view that infected stem cells lack many of
the healing properties maintained by their healthy counterparts.
Dr Emil Wirosko, one of the foremost experts on L-form bacteria, died
before he could publish on the subject. But according to his
colleagues, Wirosko believed L-form bacteria are able to infect stem
cells.
Then there are telomeres ? DNA sequences on the ends of chromosomes
that are gradually lost as cells replicate. As they shorten, a cell
can no longer divide and becomes inactive or dies ? meaning that the
length of a person?s telomeres plays a role in how quickly they will
age. The fact that people with heart disease, Alzheimer?s, cancer, and
other illnesses have been shown to lose telomere sequences at a faster
rate than their healthy counterparts suggests that the bacteria
involved in causing such diseases may also have an effect on telomere
length.^[2
<http://bacteriality.com/2008/07/27/microbiome/#footnote_1_222>] As
Marshall describes, if pathogens do directly alter our DNA, then the
weakened DNA at the ends of telomeres provides some of the easiest
genetic material for them to mutate.
Once again then, the question is posed: What might occur if humans
were to become largely bacteria-free? Might they age at a slower rate?
The possibility is tantalizing. Data from people on the Marshall
Protocol, who are gradually reducing their bacterial loads, will prove
to be increasingly insightful in this regard as time wears on.
As previously discussed, the sequencing of the human genome alone does
not allow for the Gattaca-like world described earlier in which humans
could be identified and catalogued by their unique DNA sequences.
Ironically, the human Microbiome Project and Marshall?s work might
make that world more of a reality. If it turns out that the bacteria
we harbor are a source of disease and a burden on the innate immune
system, then the population will seek (like those people on the MP) to
eliminate at least the majority of them.
--
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