The Human Microbiome and Its Impacts on Health

The Human Microbiome Impacts Health

What is the Human Microbiome?

The human microbiome is all the microbes that live in and on our bodies. This includes bacteria, viruses, fungi and other tiny organisms. There are trillions of them! Many of them help our bodies function properly.

Where are the Microbes Located?

Microbes live all over our bodies. Many live in the gut, skin, mouth and other places. The ones in each spot are specially adapted to live there. For example, certain bacteria live in the gut while others live on the skin.

How Do Microbes Affect Health?

Microbes can impact our health in good and bad ways. Good microbes help digest food, make vitamins, and boost our immune system. Bad microbes can cause infection or make us sick if they grow too much. A healthy microbiome has the right balance.

What Causes Microbiome Imbalance?

Many things can throw off the balance of microbes in our body. This is called dysbiosis. Antibiotics, poor diet, diseases, and lifestyle factors can cause it. Dysbiosis is linked to illnesses like bowel disease, infections, and even cancer.

Microbes and Cancer

Studies show links between gut microbes and cancer. Imbalanced gut microbes may produce toxins that damage cells and cause cancer growth. Microbes may also spread from the gut to other organs like the liver and contribute to cancer there.

Microbes and Bowel Diseases

Bowel diseases like inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are connected to having the wrong microbes. A damaged bowel lining lets microbes and toxins through into the body and causes inflammation. Probiotics may help treat IBD.

Microbes, Heart Disease and Kidney Disease

Some microbes produce substances that travel through the body and contribute to heart disease and kidney disease. Too much of a substance called TMAO is linked to plaque buildup in arteries. Kidney disease patients often have imbalanced gut microbes.

Microbes and Infections

Harmful microbes can sometimes move from the gut into the blood and infect other parts of the body. This often happens when antibiotics damage gut microbes or the gut lining. It allows more bad microbes to spread.

Microbes and Allergies

Gut microbes influence immune system development. An imbalanced infant gut microbiome may contribute to developing allergies later in childhood. Farm dust containing microbes may reduce inflammation and allergies. Probiotics may help treat allergies by balancing microbes.

Benefits of a Healthy Microbiome

Good gut microbes help digest fiber, make vitamins, strengthen immunity, and protect from cancer and infection. Breastfeeding helps develop a healthy infant microbiome. Lifestyle factors like diet impact the microbiome.

Conclusion

The human microbiome is important for many aspects of health. More research on how microbes impact diseases may lead to better treatments. But antibiotics and lifestyle factors can disrupt our microbiome, so probiotics may help.

Author Contributions

• Grace A. Ogunrinola: Collected the data for the study.

• John O. Oyewale: Designed the methods and led the project.

• Oyewumi O. Oshamika & Grace I. Olasehinde: Reviewed and edited the writing.

Key References

Important websites for learning more:

- PMC Disclaimer: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/disclaimer/

- PMC Copyright Notice: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/copyright/

- Int J Microbiol: https://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijmb/

- National Institutes of Health: https://www.nih.gov/

Some key studies:

- Pascal et al. 2018: How microbes relate to allergies.

- Whiteside et al. 2015: Microbes in the urinary tract.

- Tang et al. 2015: Microbes, kidney disease and heart disease.

- Manrique et al. 2016: Viruses in the human microbiome.

- Round & Mazmanian 2009: How microbes shape the immune system.

- Sunil et al. 2017: Microbiome's role in inflammatory bowel disease.

- Huang et al. 2017: Microbiome connections to allergies.