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Dear Readers, Welcome to the latest issue of Micro
Recently, more and more scientists and healthcare practitioners have become interested in addressing the issues of microbiome medicine: the body contains about 30 trillion microorganisms. These are the microbes, the so-called microbiota, located in the intestines, skin, respiratory tract, etc. Scientists proved that these mother nature’s tiny ecosystems are essential for our wellbeing. Current scientific achievements allow us to see a comprehensive picture of the significance of the human microbiome in processes such as digestion and even the immune response. Due to this, there is great hope for the field of study known as microbiome medicine, which focuses on treating and preventing diseases using the microbiome.
The human microbiome is an advanced, complex microscriptomic mapping located throughout the human body with a peak density in the intestine, cutaneous, respiratory tract, and urogenital systems.
Although other parts of the body’s microbes are also fascinating, the gut scene biota has received the most attention. Their activity helps to decompose the food and creates an environment conducive to important vitamins while influencing the body’s immune response and shielding it from external organisms. Any disruption awarded to this population of organisms is termed dysbiosis, and various diseases have been connected to it, such as obesity and IBD, but also allergic conditions like asthma, diabetes, and some mental disorders.
The associated composition of an individual’s microbiome and its gut varies with genetics, diet, lifestyle, and other environmental factors, and therefore, it is said to be unique to every individual. Learning about this uniqueness has made it possible to understand microbiome therapies on a more personal level that can improve one’s health.
Microbiome medicine is that branch of treatment of the disorders, where as part of therapy treatment, the homeostasis of microorganisms is affected or restored in order to increase the efficiency of the health result.
This discipline includes a number of therapeutic practices both dietary and probiotic approaches as well as more sophisticated techniques such as fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) and microbiome therapeutics. These methods seek to promote health by either delivering beneficial microbes straight to the body or fostering a healthy microbiome’s environment.
Probiotics are living microorganisms which when administered above a certain number possess health benefits to the host. Probiotics of dietary origin are taken as supplements or in foods like yogurt, kefir, or sauerkraut. Clinical studies have established that probiotics are effective solutions that enhance gut health, improve immunity, and help to lower the chances of contracting chronic disease among other proven benefits. Prebiotics are dietary fibers which serve as nutrients to the good bacteria present in the gut. Prebiotics thus help in balancing the microbiome by enhancing the numbers of these bacterial species. Consumption of more fibrous foods, fruits and vegetables as well as whole grains can promote the health of the microbiome as a whole.
FMT is possibly one of the most remarkable innovations recorded in the field of microbiome medicine as it is the practice of introducing feces from a healthy subject into the gastrointestinal tract of an individual suffering from disorders of the microbiome such as CDI, which is an infectious disease of the gut that is recurrent and hard to treat with antibiotics. To date, FMT has proven efficacy in restoring the gut flora towards the healthy species and effectively intervene recurrent CDI. Currently, further investigations are being conducted to assess its application in managing diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), as well as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and other degenerative diseases that affect the nervous system.
With the advancements in the understanding of the microbiome on the offered by the pharmaceutical companies, there has been a new line of products in development which is Microbiome based drugs also called live biotherapeutics. These are live bacteria designed to assist in eliminating specific conditions, such as infections, autoimmune diseases, metabolic disorders, etc. This new generation of drugs present an opportunity for the delivery of targeted therapies with improved control over modulation of the microbiome in ways that other drugs cannot.
One of the most thrilling areas of microbiome study is the ability to address chronic degenerative diseases in the future. Gaining too much weight, type 2 diabetes, heart-related ailments, and even some types of cancers have been associated with dysbiosis in the microbiome. For instance, research indicates that individuals suffering from obesity tend to have a narrower microbiome diversity compared to those who are of normal weight. That is the reason behind the effort of scientists to treat those chronic diseases by altering the gut microbiome.
Mental wellbeing is the other domain where the microbiome is known to exert phenomena of influence. Quite recently, the concept of the gut and the brain axis, a two-way communication network that exists between the two organs, has been acknowledged to be a significant player in mental health. You may know that the gut bacteria are capable of changing mood, cognition, and behavior.
New information implies that disruptions of normal microbiota increases the likelihood of developing or worsening depression, anxiety, as well as diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
The clinical possibility of microbiome medicine is fascinating, however, there are challenges that still need to be sorted out. The microbiome is a very sophisticated system as well as a large portion of how microorganisms interact with the balance of health being understood. In addition, as the microbiome sphere is unique to members of different spheres, what is good for one may not be good for the other.
The optimal situation exists for microbiome medicine, which is delivered according to the individual specifics of the person’s microbiome. However, a number of technological and research breakthroughs are necessary for this to be accomplished.
There are also regulatory challenges that are barriers. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and related agencies are working on the treatment for microbiome-based therapies but they are more complex than simply making a drug.
Microbiome medicine can be described as a rod in the wheel of the paradigm shift in the healthcare system as it enables prevention and treatment of diseases while utilizing the benefits of microbes. There is a huge potential on how to effectively address the human wellbeing which include probiotics and FMT as well microbiome based innovative medications. In the near future, the gradual emergence of new discoveries will explain the deep bonds of the microbiome and human health, which may radically change the medicine of the future – the medicine with a focus on the treatment of the person using the power of microbes.
At the moment, the most appropriate strategy is to work towards achieving a healthy and diverse microbiome through proper eating habits, frequent exercises and limiting antibiotics use. However, what microbiome medicine has in store for us can be very promising as it allows for such advancement in one’s health which was previously not possible, simply by altering the microbes present in the body.
