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Title : You Should Appreciate for Bacteria. (1/2)

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Part1. Why on Earth I Have Bacteria In My Stomach

1. Appetizer Talk : 10¹³

Beginning of this posting with this impressive quote below, heard from a seminar few years ago.

If You Don't Like Bacteria, You're on the Wrong Planet.

-Steward Brand

Figure from [ Independence day 2 : Resurgence ]

Whether you are aware of this fact or not, you live in a symbiotic relationship with 10¹³ bacteria inside your body¹⁾. Literally, this 10¹³ number is 100 times larger than that of a total cell number of human body. Even there is a book discussing that only 10% of human body comprises of human cell. Rest of 90%? All human-associated bacteria takes it all²⁾.

Figure from Alanna Collen's Website

Such numerous bacteria of yours have significant effects on your body surprisingly, for example, helping your digestion of food, protection from harmful bacteria(pathogens), synthesize vitamin K which is necessary for human(but cannot make it ourselves), and most importantly working as our immune system. Therefore, it is very important that you should acknowledge 'the existence of bacteria in you' to have better understanding of your body system. In the series of following postings, human-associated microbiota is mainly discussed by some of interesting scientific publications and in order to give you some of hints of

"Why Knowing Microbiota in Your Body is Important for Your Life?".

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2. Why So Many Bacteria in My Body? Im Scareddddddd

When I figured out the countless number 10¹³ probably in my sophomore year, it was huuuuuge confusion on my basic knowledge. Since my days of boyhood, I was taught that I should wash my hands as much as possible because on the palm there are so many germs and bacteria that might hurt myself. From then there might be the engraved sentence in somewhere of my subconsciousness, "BACTERIA IS BAD".

However, the sentence "BACTERIA IS BAD" is half right, half wrong after all. As briefly discussed above, human-associated bacteria takes many beneficial role in our body.

• Working as a Part of Immune System
• Supporting Your Digestion
• Protection from Harmful Bacteria
• The Only Producing Source of Vitamin K in Body
• Neutralization of Toxic
  

Which bacteria species, how bacteria is working as beneficial role, where they work specifically , will be described very soon.

2-1. Human Associated-Microbiota: From Hair to Foot

You may hear about Lactic acid bacteria or probiotics at least once in your lifetime. Probably, you feel more familiar with the word "Yogurt"

Yes, yogurt is made from Lactobacillus(Lactic acid bacteria). And you are eating it. Just like the Lactobacillus, that you had today morning, is one of the famous bacteria of all that works in beneficial part of your Gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Many people assumably have more Latobacillus than other bacteria species within GI tract.
To support that, one of well-known research publication was brought here. One of great research groups have surveyed the composition of bacteria community in 27 sites of human body. As can be seen figure below, their research indicate that the human microbiota varies systematically across body habitats from hair to tip of foot³⁾. For example, hair site contains more Allstipes than Bacteriodetes. (You never have to memorize names and stuffs, take it easy, mate)

Figure from <Bacterial Community Variation in Human Body Habitats Across Space and Time, Science>

2-2. What Makes You Have More "Bacteria_X" than Me?!

Now, I believe you finally admit that your body filled with many different bacteria species all over the body. Also, probably you can raise this kind of question

"Ok, let's say I am bacteria human. I kinda admit. But, I DO hope my body has more beneficial bacteria than my colleague over there. Since he is dirty, filthy bastard, it would be freaking embarrassed if I have same bacteria composition with him!"

It is true somehow. Actually, your bacteria composition is considered as kinda your Fingerprint. Every single person habors their own special bacteria composition not like any other people, not even between twins!!!⁴⁾

Such fingerprint-like microbiota compositions are mostly determined by some of important factors, lifestyle and habits as listed below.

• Nutrient status (Fat, Thin)
• Dietary Habit (Vegetarian, Lactose Tolerant)
• Health Conditions (Cold, Enteritis)
• Environmetal Reasons (Temperature, Humidity)
  
  
  
  

2-3. PlzPlz, Avoid Antibiotics

One of important role of microbiota in host body is a part of immune system. For looooooong time (since you were an infant), your body has finally figured out the best composition to make your system stable status, instinctively. The optimized and harmonized bacteria composition works as protective shield of your inside system. There is hypothetical alliance between basic immune system and microbiota community. If the system detects the existence of alien intruder (e.g. pathogens) from outside, the alliance declares the war and defeat them with little fever and swelling of your body. Here is very important and seriously emphasized advice for all time.

Please Please, Avoid Antibiotics (If not necessary)

Taking antibiotics has beneficial aspect of enabling the control of pathogenic bacteria. However, pathogenic bacteria have repetitively learned the genetic adaptation to stay alive such antibiotic usage because of substantial selective pressures resulting from widespread antibiotic use⁵⁾, and we even have such thing “Superbacteria", after all. Furthermore, antibiotic negatively affect to beneficial microbiota by killing them off and contributing to rises in chronic health diseases.

Of course, if you are in severe health condition such as surgical operations etc, you NEED to take some antibiotics under proper supervision of professional pharmacist(or doctor, physician whoever eligible). But please keep in mind, taking antibiotics in normal condition would never go right direction of your health.

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REFERENCES

¹⁾ Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body, PLoS Biol. 2016 Aug 19;14(8):e1002533, DOI:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002533

²⁾ 10% Human: How Your Body's Microbes Hold the Key to Health and Happiness, Alanna Collen, ISBN:0062345982

³⁾ Bacterial Community Variation in Human Body Habitats Across Space and Time, Science, Vol. 326, Issue 5960, pp. 1694-1697 DOI:10.1126/science.1177486

⁴⁾ Microbial ecology: human gut microbes associated with obesity. Nature 444, 1022?1023

⁵⁾ The effects of antibiotics on the microbiome throughout development and alternative approaches for therapeutic modulation, Genome Med. 2016; 8: 39.







(To be continued in Part2. Things You Can Learn from Bacteria....)

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• Contents

  Part1. Why on Earth I Have Bacteria In My Stomach

  1. Appetizer talk : 10¹³

  2. Why So Many Bacteria in My Body? Im Scareddddddd

     2-1. Microbiota: From Bottom to Top

     2-2. What Makes You Have More Bacteria A than Me?!

     2-3. PlzPlz, Avoid to Antibiotics

  Part2. Things You Can Learn from Bacteria

  1. Portion of Microbiota Can Say "You Are Fat?!"

     3-1. IBS & Inflammatory Disease (Crohn's Disease)

     3-2. Obesity(!) & Diabete

  2. Interesting Researches

     4-1. When You Go Abroad, My Dear Bacteria C Gone

     4-2. Bacteria Affects Personality?

  3. Tip : Hope You Love Bacteria More

• REFERENCES

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