Writing Exercise #3

  1. Eating a well-balanced, diverse diet – Eating a variety of unprocessed, clean, well-balanced foods would be beneficial to our microbiome. A variety of different colored vegetables, fruit, and other food groups would provide needed nutrients, protein, essential fatty acid, vitamin, and mineral requirements to promote good health in our bodies. A diverse diet would promote more diverse microbes in our guts. A healthy and diverse diet will also promote protection against certain diseases.
  2. Taking probiotics – Probiotics are made up of “good” bacteria and promote a healthy balance of bacteria in our gut. Probiotics can aid digestion, help maintain gut health, and boost our immune system. Probiotics can be taken as a dietary supplement or a from food sources. More studies need to be done to reveal if they are effective for older adults, however. And while many types of probiotics are on the market, not all have been well studied.
  3. Limiting antibiotic usage – While antibiotics are a useful medical treatment, overuse of antibiotics influences antimicrobial resistance. Antibiotics have the potential to kill microbes useful in our gut and have the potential to make them resistant to medications. This is worrisome when one may become infected with a potentially antimicrobial-resistant pathogen.

Writing Exercise #2

If a colleague asked for my opinion as to which HPV strain should be covered in a new treatment, I would recommend HPV31 and HPV45. The article states that HPVs 16, 18, 31, and 45 account for up to ~80% of cervical cancer. HPV16 and HPV18 strains have vaccines available and are expected to limit the spread of HPV infections and the incidence of HPV related cancers over time. Thus, HPV31 and HPV45 would make ideal candidates for the next treatment as they can help decrease the prevalence of cervical cancer. I also would have the treatment be administered when the patient is young/is a child. According to the CDC, HPV can be transmitted by having vaginal, anal, or oral sex with someone who has the virus. It is most commonly spread during vaginal or anal sex. Therefore, administering the treatment before the individual is sexually active would be beneficial. I would then recommend HPV types 33, 35, 39, 51 52, 56 58, or 59 be covered in the new treatment as they are also associated with cervical cancer.