The Science Archives

12 07, 2019

Can the ocean modify our microbiota?

Laura_Exden2019-07-10T15:37:34+02:0012 July 2019|Skin, That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Can the ocean modify our microbiota?

Summer is finally here! You spend your free time enjoying the sun and maybe even going to the beach. But do you know that swimming in the ocean can alter the skin microbiota? And in addition, can increase the infection risk? A team of researchers presented clinical results suggesting some interactions between our skin and the ocean at the annual meeting of the American Society for Microbiology. This clinical trial was motivated by previous studies showing a correlation between swimming at sea, water quality and the infection risk. Indeed, microbiota changes can cause skin, gastrointestinal, or ENT infections including respiratory or [...]

19 06, 2019

Titanium dioxide, enemy of the intestinal microbiota?

Laura_Exden2019-06-19T09:26:59+02:0019 June 2019|That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Titanium dioxide, enemy of the intestinal microbiota?

Titanium dioxide TiO2 or E171, is a nanoparticulate additive found in certain foodstuffs, including food supplements, as white opacifying and colour. This additive is present in chewing gums, sweets, industrial pastries, toothpastes, sunscreens, caps… Titanium dioxide is currently a very controversial ingredient. Its use should be banned in France by January 1st 2020. Indeed, it would present a risk for the consumer safety. One of the consequences of its ingestion would be an alteration of the intestinal microbiota. E171 has a deleterious effect on the bacterial activity and the intestinal ecosystem balance (dysbiosis), potentially favoring inflammatory diseases or colorectal cancer in [...]

5 04, 2019

BOOK – “The Mind-Gut Connection”

Laura_Exden2019-04-04T14:51:57+02:0005 April 2019|Brain-Gut, That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on BOOK – “The Mind-Gut Connection”

In his latest book, "The Mind-Gut Connection," Emeran Mayer MD, a gastroenterologist and professor at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), denounces the traditional mechanistic and martial approach to treating the disease, which consists of repair the damaged part without looking at the body as a whole and without knowing its origin. Already at the medical school, Emeran Mayer was not convinced by this traditional approach of medicine and it was during his third year he wanted to study how the brain interacts with the body in the hope of better understanding some diseases especially chronic diseases whose functioning [...]

22 03, 2019

The intestinal microbiota: related to malnutrition?

Laura_Exden2019-03-21T16:37:42+02:0022 March 2019|Children, The Science|Comments Off on The intestinal microbiota: related to malnutrition?

Many bacteria are housed in our intestines, essential to the functioning of the organism and the maintenance of the health. In particular, they have proved their beneficial effects in the context of digestion. Indeed, these bacteria degrade food in nutrients in order to make them usable by our body, essential to the growth of a living being. The microbiota could therefore be an important part in the overall growth process. According to the World Health Organization, more than 155 million children under 5 years old were stunted growth due to malnutrition in 2016. In case of chronic malnutrition, the gut microbiota [...]

25 01, 2019

Finding age with the intestinal microbiota is now possible!

Laura_Exden2019-01-24T15:54:28+02:0025 January 2019|The Science, Trends and Innovation, Unusual|Comments Off on Finding age with the intestinal microbiota is now possible!

Assessing the age of someone with gut microbiota is possible. This method is based on the analysis of the intestinal microbiota composition. The intestinal microbiota tends to be considered stable and mature around the age of 2-3 years. However, it may undergo some changes over time. Alex Zhavoronkov, a longevity researcher, and colleagues from the artificial intelligence startup InSilico Medicine, decided to create an artificial intelligence that can predict people’s biological age, by DNA analysis of the gut microbiota. A total of 1,165 people between 20 and 90 from different countries were enrolled in this study. More than 3,600 stool samples [...]

30 11, 2018

Bacteria in the brain

Laura_Exden2018-11-29T09:46:40+02:0030 November 2018|Brain-Gut, That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Bacteria in the brain

It is well known that bacteria constituting the intestinal microbiota interact with the brain and can influence our mood. However, scientists thought that the brain was sterile, i.e. without any bacterium thanks to the blood brain barrier considered as a filter. But it would seem that a cerebral microbiota exists. This has been suggested by a laboratory from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, at the Society for Neuroscience congress. The researchers studied 34 brains of dead people with schizophrenia or in good health to get these preliminary results. No brain showed inflammation signs. They observed rod shapes by microscopy in each [...]

16 11, 2018

Probiotics: at the heart of clinical trials on cardiovascular diseases

Laura_Exden2018-11-16T11:55:49+02:0016 November 2018|That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Probiotics: at the heart of clinical trials on cardiovascular diseases

We know that probiotics have many virtues. Mainly known for their effects on immunity and digestion, probiotics are also able to act on cholesterol level and as a result, the risk of cardiovascular disease. According to WHO (World Health Organization), cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries. There is a part of heredity in their occurence, but it is above all an unhealthy lifestyle that is primarily responsible (i.e. lack of physical activity, poor diet, smoking or excessive alcohol consumption). The heart, this indispensable organ The heart is a vital organ that must be cared for! This [...]

19 10, 2018

BOOK – « MISSING MICROBES: How the overuse of antibiotics is fueling our modern plagues »

Laura_Exden2018-10-19T11:20:24+02:0019 October 2018|That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on BOOK – « MISSING MICROBES: How the overuse of antibiotics is fueling our modern plagues »

The author of “Missing microbes: How the overuse of antibiotics is fueling our modern plagues”, Martin Blaser, is a medical researcher who has spent most of his career studying the benefits of bacteria. What made him known? His participation in the work highlighting the involvement of Helicobacter pylori in stomach ulcers. He realized later that people with gastric reflux and allergic reactions didn’t have this bacterium. Helicobacter pylori, known as a pathogen bacterium, could actually have positive effects on health. Following this result, he then extended his work to the benefits of bacteria. In his committed book, the author presents some [...]

21 09, 2018

Keep a microbiota in top form with sport

Laura_Exden2018-09-21T12:17:44+02:0021 September 2018|That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Keep a microbiota in top form with sport

It is time to choose the sport you will be doing all year long. Some people are sporting, others less. Maybe you still need arguments: sport is good for your microbiota ! We know that practicing sports is good for health. Avoiding inactivity is an effective way to limit the onset and/or development of certain diseases such as obesity, diabetes and certain cancers. This would be partly due to the gut microbiota : the sport would modulate favorably its diversity and its functioning. In order to prove it, US researchers conducted a clinical trial on 32 non-athletic, obese or lean volunteers. They all [...]

7 09, 2018

Probiotics for students against absenteeism

Laura_Exden2018-09-07T20:52:18+02:0007 September 2018|That's your concern, The Science|Comments Off on Probiotics for students against absenteeism

After summer holidays, it is time to go back to school for students... and to deal with stress due to the fear of exams, of the future or the workload… Stress origins are multiple. Stress involves intestinal hyperpermeability which means that intestinal microbiota does not play its barrier function, with a decrease of immunity. The organisms are also more impacted by different respiratory pathologies as cold or flu, that lead to more school absenteeism. Following these observations, the Langkamp-Henken’s team investigated the effect of different probiotics intake on prevalence of cold and flu on students under pressure during academic exams. 581 [...]