Gut bacteria affects brain health

The hundred trillion bacteria living in your gut have a significant impact on your behaviour and brain health, say scientists, including one of Indian-origin.
In an article in the Journal of Medicinal Food, Leo Galland, Director of Foundation for Integrated Medicine, New York, presented the most up-to-date understanding of the relationship between the proteins produced by intestinal bacteria and the human central nervous system.
Galland explores the various mechanisms through which the microbiome can influence the brain: by stimulating and over-stimulating the immune system, producing neurotoxic agents, releasing hormones or neurotransmitters identical to those made by the human body, or through direct neuronal stimulation that sends signals to the brain.

"The microbiome has become a hot topic in many branches of medicine, from immune and inflammatory diseases, such as Crohn's and IBD to cardiovascular diseases," said Co-Editor-in-Chief Sampath Parthasarathy, Florida Hospital Chair in Cardiovascular Sciences, University of Central Florida, Orlando.
"Scientists are not only aware of the 'good' and the 'bad' microbes in the gut but are becoming increasingly aware of how they could alter the metabolism beyond gut," Parthasarathy said.