THE BIOME BUZZ
BUGS AND WORMS AND OTHER GREAT STUFF
Category: Macrobiome
The Macrobiome and Mycobiome in IBD: A Look at the Role of “Dirty Old Friends”
A very recent paper, published just this past May, caught my eye because of its title: “Inflammatory bowel diseases, the hygiene hypothesis and the other side of the microbiota: Parasites and fungi.”[i] How often on this blog have I talked about the incredible complexity… Continue Reading “The Macrobiome and Mycobiome in IBD: A Look at the Role of “Dirty Old Friends””
Multiple Sclerosis and Helminths: A Phase 2 Clinical Trial
I’m treating myself this week, writing about two of my favorite things: first a post on “things you can do now,” and now a clinical trial, this one on using helminths to treat multiple sclerosis.[i] This was a phase 2 study at the University… Continue Reading “Multiple Sclerosis and Helminths: A Phase 2 Clinical Trial”
Helminths in the Time of COVID: A Protective Action?
As soon as I first read about the recognition by physicians that that death from COVID-19 was often caused by a cytokine storm – a massive inflammatory response to an invader, which causes major tissue damage – my first thought was, “I wonder if… Continue Reading “Helminths in the Time of COVID: A Protective Action?”
Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes: Helminths May Hold the Answers
I found a bunch of new research on helminths and will, over the next month or so, make my way through the papers. I wanted to share first an article just published by researchers in Australia (where some of the best hookworm (Necator americanus)… Continue Reading “Obesity, Metabolic Syndrome and Diabetes: Helminths May Hold the Answers”
Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders: Are Helminths a Solution?
According to the CDC, about 10% of the United States’ population now has diabetes, and 90-95% of those have type 2.[i] That is tens of millions of people in this country alone, let alone world-wide. I need you to be sitting when I tell… Continue Reading “Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders: Are Helminths a Solution?”
The Promise of Helminths for Multiple Sclerosis
Today I get to write about something other than the bacterial microbiome! Woopa! I was very happy to find a new paper on the possibilities of using helminths (helminth immunotherapy (HIT), as these authors call it) to prevent and alleviate multiple sclerosis (MS).[i] … Continue Reading “The Promise of Helminths for Multiple Sclerosis”
Lupus and Helminths: Preventive Promise?
I continue to monitor the macrobiome space, watching as the evidence (very) slowly but surely continues to mount in support of helminths’ ability to alleviate, or even prevent, the development of autoimmune diseases. The latest news is that, in an animal model, Japanese researchers… Continue Reading “Lupus and Helminths: Preventive Promise?”
Helminths and the Microbiome: An Anti-Inflammatory Partnership
It isn’t often that I find new research on helminths and equally rare to find one on the interactions of the various species of resident in the gut, so I was particularly pleased to find an actual human clinical study looking at how the… Continue Reading “Helminths and the Microbiome: An Anti-Inflammatory Partnership”
The Deworming Question: A Good Idea? Pointless? Detrimental? The Evidence Mounts…
Last month, a meta-analysis paper came out searching the medical literature through the year 2018, looking for evidence of the benefits promised by the worldwide efforts at deworming school children, recommended by all global advocacy organizations including WHO. The authors, from the Department of… Continue Reading “The Deworming Question: A Good Idea? Pointless? Detrimental? The Evidence Mounts…”
Helminths and Susceptibility to HIV?????????? A Medical Mystery Waiting to be Solved
A couple of times over the last year, I have described early stage research into the potential of helminths to prevent cancer? File this post under the same heading: the very beginning of a new area of research. Sometimes it just hits me how… Continue Reading “Helminths and Susceptibility to HIV?????????? A Medical Mystery Waiting to be Solved”
