Month: February 2018

It is really important for our bodies to be exposed to different types of microbes because it allows for our immune systems to advance their knowledge, which makes them more able to fight off harmful bacteria. It is when our immune system is not exposed that we can easily fall victim to a simple bacteria.

Human behaviors that contribute to the decreased exposure to microbes:

• Formula feeding instead of using breast milk: With using formula, the infant isn’t exposed to the helpful microbes that are within the breast milk of their mothers. Breast milk is found to boost the immune systems of the babies that are drinking the milk and without it, there is a chance of not being exposed to that bacterium for further prevention of illness.
• C-section birth: While this type of birth method may not be a choice for certain moms, it had become a widely used way to safely deliver a baby. Unfortunately, with the use of a C-section, infants are not exposed to the vaginal microbes that are within their mothers as they exit and therefore do not have them as babies. Although still being studied about the risk to the lack of exposure, it can be one influence on the exposure to microbial life
• Constant use of antibiotics: Using antibiotics kills bacteria. Most of the antibiotics that are made do not specifically target just one type of bacteria but are designed to target a large variety of them. This is beneficial when trying to kill a harmful bacterium but it is also very bad for your body when it kills the microbial life that is good for your health.
• Not going outside/ having a very sterile living space: Having a very sterile environment or not getting outside to experience the microbial life beyond your living space can be very bad. Without exposure, you will not have the necessary immune system to fight off the simple bacterium; it can actually cause you to become sicker easier. Although it may seem that limiting the types of exposure would be good, it turns out that it can have the opposite effect.

Negative Influences on Microbial communities in Mother and Infant:

• Preterm birth: This is when an infant if born before thirty-seven weeks. This can be very bad for the infant if it is born way before the due date because it will not have the viable expose to microbes that it needs in life. Preterm birth can be caused by the microbial communities within the vagina that stimulate your body to give birth(1). Usually, a healthy microbial life provides support for the vagina against inflammation, which causes labor.
• Mother has gestational diabetes mellitus or gestational hypertension. These two factors play a huge role in the microbial life of the infant. This is because both of these factors can influence the delivery date of the baby. Not only could these increase the chances that the child is born too early (not getting the right types of microbial communities needed in the real world) but they hypertension also can become an issue for the baby(1). This increases the chance of the infant having a high BMI, which has an influence on the type of microbes that grow within their bodies.
• Gestation Weight Gain: Although there is always an expected amount of weight gain with every pregnancy (roughly 20-35 lbs), the gaining of too much weight has the potential of causing negative outcomes on the infant(1). Large amounts of weight gain lead to higher rates of premature birth. Infants also have a higher chance of weight gain themselves, which alters the gut microbial health within their body systems.
• Use of antibiotics during pregnancy: The purpose of antibiotics is to treat a bacterial infection. During pregnancy, this can negatively alter the infant’s microbial communities by killing bacteria that they need. This can lead to higher chances of asthma and type 1-diabetes(2).

 

References:

1. Corwin J, Dunlop A, Dunn A, Edwards S, Ferranti E, Mulle J. 2015. The Maternal Microbiome and Prganxy Outcomes that Impact Infant Health: A Review. Adv Netonatal Care. 15(6) 377-385
2. Bakacs E, Combellick J, Domingeuz-Bello M, Grigoryan Z, Mueller N. 2014. The Infant microbiome Development: Mom Matters. Trends Mol Med. 21(2): 109-117.

Free Write 1:

I really liked learning about the influences that microbes have on our intestinal tracks like the gut. I want to know more about the mother to child relationship because I would imagine that to be really interesting. I enjoyed reading about the different STDs that microbes produce in our bodies. I hope to one day to help people who are suffering from medical issues so just knowing what infections you can get from other people is really important. I want to learn more about the microbial influences on genetics like HIV. It is something that is really intriguing into me and I hope that one day there will be a cure. I want to know more about specifics regarding treatments for microbial life and the advancements in vaccinations for certain diseases (breakthroughs) such as HPV and herpes. I thought it was really cool learning about the different strains (cagA+ and cagA-) and the effect that it had in our guts.

Free Write 3: vaccinations for certain diseases (breakthroughs) such as HPV and herpes.

Different variations of the microbes, difficult to treat, takes a lot of time, always changing, can be vary dangerous (HPV), both are for life, untreatable, through sexual contact or sharing of bodily fluids (herpes), social stigma, easily transmitted, there is a vaccination for two HPV strains none for herpes, both are very very common in the public, intriguing, not a huge urgency to find a treatment for herpes but very important for HPV because it can cause cancer, deadly, causing rapid cellular growth within the cervix, 4 types represent 80% of cervical cases in women,

Free Write 4:

I surprisingly really enjoyed doing this free write. Normally I don’t take things like this very seriously and kind of brush them off when writing a paper but I think it would help me. My goal for writing my paper is to do a ton of research before siting down to write it. Once I have done a lot of research I want to sit down and do a free write. This will allow me to get out all of the information that I have so far for this topic. I also will be able to look at the statements I make and develop a plan for how I want to construct my paper. This exercise will help me to hopefully avoid the common writer’s block and come up with a successful and well-written paper.

My personal philosophy about antibiotics is that one should only take them if they are necessary and have a prescription from a doctor. Antibiotics are very useful and we are very lucky for their discovery but they can also have very negative effects on our bodies if we are not careful with how we use them. I personally believe that one should not use antibiotics unless there are no other options, such as taking probiotics or other types of medications. If you are seriously sick or it is an urgent situation then, by all means, someone should use them to get better. Antibiotics should not be used in a case where someone has a sore throat and feels like it could potentially turn into strep throat. Instead of rushing to take something, you should be patient and wait to see if it isn’t just a simple cold. I also believe that you should take the full dose of medication that is prescribed to you to fully rid your body of the bacterial infection so that it doesn’t come back in a strong amount.

Thankfully in my life, I haven’t had to take a ton of antibiotics but I had a really stressful and bad experience with them recently. Last fall I was very sick and I kept going to the local Urgent Care to try and figure out what was going on. After each visit, they kept prescribing me a medication for strep throat, it wasn’t until a month and a half later did we find out that I actually had mono. This is why I think it is very important to not take medication unless you are 100% sure that you know what you are treating. It turns out that after each antibiotic (and steroid prescribed for my severe sore throat) my body was having a terrible reaction, which made the experience much worse.

The choices that you make can have major affects on gut microbial life whether they are positive or negative. Listed below are 4 different behaviors that people can do that will have major affects on microbial life. The positive two choices are usually behaviors that are usually intention in that people eat better and take probiotics knowing that it will promote health within their bodies. The two negative choices below are behaviors that people usually do without intentionally knowing what the affects can be for their health.

These foods and products have a positive impact on gut microbial life:

• Whole foods/ fruits and vegetables: These types of food contain the nutrients that are important for bacterial health, which promotes different bacterial types, making your gut microbiota more diverse. This allows for the growth of beneficial bacteria verses bacteria that will cause ulcers or inflammation issues.
• Yogurt/ probiotics: Since some types of yogurts (greek and live cultured ones) contain live bacteria within them, they have the ability to insert those cultured bacteria within your gut. Fortunately, the bacteria within probiotics promote health and well being throughout your gut microbial communities. They even have the ability of decreasing the negative effect of exhibiting bacteria that may have already inhabited your body. This can lower the risks of ulcers or inflammation

These foods and products have a negative impact on gut microbial life:

• Drinking too much alcohol: The overuse of alcohol can have a very negative effect on microbial communities within your gut. Alcohol is very toxic, especially in high doses. It can leave your gut bacteria imbalanced or impaired which will not allow them to function normally. This may have a negative effect on your digestion of nutrients and stomach secretions within your gut.
• Overuse of Antibiotics: Using any types of antibiotics can have a chance of lowering or altering the amount of gut microbial life. Long term overuse of antibiotics can lead to a permanent damage to microbial life that affects both the good and bad bacteria. Antibiotics might also completely change the species of gut bacteria that your body has by killing the kind that was there before antibiotics. This allows for the invasion of bacteria that are resistant to the type of antibiotic used.