Microbiota And Infant Growth

More evidence emphasizing the importance of the gut microbiota:
 

Malnutrition in children is a persistent challenge that is not always remedied by improvements in nutrition. This is because a characteristic community of gut microbes seems to mediate some of the pathology. Human gut microbes can be transplanted effectively into germ-free mice to recapitulate their associated phenotypes. Using this model, Blanton et al. found that the microbiota of healthy children relieved the harmful effects on growth caused by the microbiota of malnourished children. In infant mammals, chronic undernutrition results in growth hormone resistance and stunting. In mice, Schwarzer et al. showed that strains of Lactobacillus plantarum in the gut microbiota sustained growth hormone activity via signaling pathways in the liver, thus overcoming growth hormone resistance. Together these studies reveal that specific beneficial microbes could potentially be exploited to resolve undernutrition syndromes.

Therefore: certain phenotypes of organisms (mice, humans, etc.) are due to their gut microbiota, and these phenotypes can to some extent be mimicked by transferring the microbiota from one host to another. Replacing the unhealthy microbiota of malnourished children with that of healthy children enhanced the growth of the malnourished children. Keeping in mind that the human gut microbiota is very sensitive to diet, this underscores the important connections between a healthy diet, a healthy microbiome, and the overall health of the human being.

TIME FOR VACATION

“Once a year, go someplace you have never been before”,
attributed to Dalai Lama.

Tunnel vision,

I am planning on doing so this summer. I will go somewhere I have never been before. I will not allow myself to think about my job for even a second. I will not take my laptop, and I will have no access to Internet. 

I think it is time to detox from the job, and correct the tunnel vision I have developed in my daily routine. 

This summer, I hope to meet new people and hear interesting stories. This would be quite a change from my everyday existence that is strictly rationed between three major activities: sleep, preparation for work, and work. 

A may even sing to myself “I want to break free”, and every morning get up with the “carpe diem” mentality.
 
As I age, the lack of freedom in my life becomes more acute. When not on vacation, I have to chisel out small niches of “free” time within my days. These are the only hours when I feel in control of my life.
 
If life is so short, why cannot we make it more of a celebration? Does this depend upon our attitude and mindset? Probably… 

Does it depend on how much thought and time we invest in what we do every moment of our life? May be… Ceremonies and holidays, for instance, are carefully planned and slowly and thoughtfully executed. What activity in our everyday life do we prepare for, and thoughtfully proceed with? 

Everything I do today is done in a hurry, my days are stabbed by clock-checking and anxieties that rush me from one place to another. I feel like a disposable ping pong ball in the hands of a mindless player.
 
Here is something I read recently; it is true but painful: “…the saddest adult lesson of all: … so much of life was just something to get through.” (The dogs of Littlefield, Suzanne Berne).

I hope that your summer is not something that you will just get through.

Being a father

I loved this honest and funny account of what it is like to be a new dad: "The truth about what it’s like to be a new dad".

The narrative also reminded me of this recent video of father and child.

Gardens and renewal

For me, the best place to de-stress is the garden.

Years ago, I lived next to the New York Botanical Garden, and this is was my only place of refuge from the chaos of The Bronx. This is why I appreciated the recent post on Gardenista that allowed me to virtually re-visit the famous Bronx Garden.

I hope you are enjoying your Spring days as much as I do. 

And no, this blog is not going to turn into a flower-garden blog. It is just that this is the time to soak in the full glory of colors and shapes, sunlight and rich flower perfumes.

My first 2016 lily opened today.

Gut Microbiota As A Colorectal Cancer Screening Tool

A proposed method for non-invasive colorectal cancer screening is to test the gut microbiota from stool samples; this is interesting, but obviously requires more development.  One possibility is that a combination of different non-invasive screening tools - fecal occult blood, gene testing from fecal matter, microbiota together with risk factors, etc. - can together provide sufficient accuracy and precision to be an effective screening combination.  Or else, "bite the bullet" and get the colonoscopy.  The abstract of this paper is reproduced below.

Recent studies have suggested that the gut microbiome may be an important factor in the development of colorectal cancer. Abnormalities in the gut microbiome have been reported in patients with colorectal cancer; however, this microbial community has not been explored as a potential screen for early-stage disease. We characterized the gut microbiome in patients from three clinical groups representing the stages of colorectal cancer development: healthy, adenoma, and carcinoma. Analysis of the gut microbiome from stool samples revealed both an enrichment and depletion of several bacterial populations associated with adenomas and carcinomas. Combined with known clinical risk factors of colorectal cancer (e.g., BMI, age, race), data from the gut microbiome significantly improved the ability to differentiate between healthy, adenoma, and carcinoma clinical groups relative to risk factors alone. Using Bayesian methods, we determined that using gut microbiome data as a screening tool improved the pretest to posttest probability of adenoma more than 50-fold. For example, the pretest probability in a 65-year-old was 0.17% and, after using the microbiome data, this increased to 10.67% (1 in 9 chance of having an adenoma). Taken together, the results of our study demonstrate the feasibility of using the composition of the gut microbiome to detect the presence of precancerous and cancerous lesions. Furthermore, these results support the need for more cross-sectional studies with diverse populations and linkage to other stool markers, dietary data, and personal health information. Cancer Prev Res; 1–10. ©2014 AACR.

Counting my jelly beans and living in the present

The peonies are finally blooming in their full glory

Do you remember the video The Time You Have (In Jelly Beans)?

I have been trying to make each "jelly bean" count. Especially on weekends, when I have more control over my time.

I usually wake up around 4 AM, drink my coffee - no sugar, check a few websites and get motivated.

My most productive hours are until 11 AM, so I am on the run immediately after breakfast. This morning I made some fried fish balls (light tuna, bread crumbs, one egg, salt and black pepper), baked potatoes, and avocado-yogurt dip (seasoned with parsley, garlic, salt and black pepper).

 

The honeysuckle looks very exotic

After abandoning the kitchen at 7:10 AM, I visited the garden to take a few pictures. 

The flower images will keep me alive, sane, and hopeful in the depths of the next winter... 

Sweet William self-seeded in distant corners of my garden

The peonies will last probably a week only...I wish I could capture their smell as well

Have a great weekend!