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This weeks prompt asked us what choices we make in terms of nutritional/food consumption that may have an impact on our microbial communities. The first thing that came to mind was plant based food and fiber which I know in past weeks we have talked about being healthy for the gut microbiome. I always eat some type of fiber, or plant based food because it is known for being “healthy”, but I usually don’t directly think of my microbial communities. The same would go for eating less processed foods which may increase “bad” bacteria. Overall, I would list these as unintentional choices because I don’t eat this knowing that I am improving my microbial communities. This week we also focused on prebiotics and probiotics, which I would say are intentional choices of helping create a positive impact on the microbial communities. These are known to help increase the “good” bacteria and microbial communities and are usually taken for that purpose of some sort.

Rhetorical precis on: HPV vaccine by Kyrgiou, Maria

(1) Maria Kyrgiou (Consultant Surgeon in Gynaecology and Gynaecologic Oncology) in her “HPV vaccine Obstetrics, Gynaecology & Reproductive Medicine” (2009) asserts that the HPV vaccine is essential to those ages 11-12 to get while their immune system is high and they are beginning to increase their risk of cervical cancer (2) Kyrgiou shows evidence of how the vaccine works and the limited risk of getting the vaccine. (3) The purpose of this paper is to show how valuable the vaccine is since HPV is the leading cause of vervain cancer in women and why it’s so important to get it, especially while young. (4) Kyrgiou establishes an audience with those who have microbiology background as well as anyone that is unsure if they need the vaccine and are worried about the consequences.

This week our reading focused on the gut microbiome. When thinking about behaviors that an individual could engage in to cause changes in their gut microbial community their are a few for both positive and negative impacts. Some behaviors include; eating fermented foods, fiber and sugar intake, stress, antibiotic use, exercise, sleep, diet, and smoking.

Starting with diet such as ingesting fiber and fermented food, this will help increase beneficial bacteria in the gut microbiome. Fermented foods are a natural source of probiotics and have been shown to reduce gut inflammation. The fiber helps to let the probiotics become more sustainable in their environment making it beneficial as well. Exercise and sleep is also important to avoid obesity and have a good mood while maintaining good habits and hormone control.

Next looking at same negative behaviors such as smoking, stress, and sugar intake, we see more harmful outcomes. Smoking is shown to decrease the amount of beneficial organisms and increase the risk of cancer and inflammatory bowel disease. Stress is known to disrupt the microorganisms in the gut as well as the other negative outcomes that are more known. Sugar and bad diet causes an imbalance of the gut microbes and gut flora as well as increases risks of heart disease and diabetes.

Citation:

Leonard, Jayne. “10 Research-Backed Ways to Improve Gut Health.” Medical News Today, MediLexicon International, 28 May 2019, www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325293#eat-less-sugar.

This week after reading, “Viruses and Human Cancer: From Detection to Causality” by Sarid and Gao, I looked at multiple HPV strains and the risks and treatments for each. After focusing on HPV types I just wanted to focus on the ones that were said to be high in risk when thinking about strains that should be covered in a new treatment while also keeping in mind cost/benefit analysis and remembering that we cannot recommend so many. The HPV strains that are high risk and account for approximately eighty percent of cervical cancers are types 16, 18, 31, and 45. HPV 16 and 18 already have vaccines available as they are seen responsible for causing virtually all cases of cervical cancer in women. This means that in a new treatment the focus should be on HPV 31 and HPV 45 which are also very high risk but don’t yet have treatments. Women that are skeptical of having HPV should be tested for the strain they have and be administered the treatment immediately to help prevent the spread of cancer. Overall, the benefit of finding treatment for these HPV strands will outweigh the cost based on how many life will be positively impacted from the new treatments.

Prompt: List as many human non-infectious diseases you can think of that are influenced by microorganisms.

When thinking about previous biology courses I have taken we have talked about microorganisms but I rarely consider non-infectious vs infectious diseases so it was difficult to come up with different examples. Some I thought of are Asthma, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, Cancer (some), and Inflammatory bowel disease. When thinking of microbiology I think of different bacteria right away. There are both negatives and positive outcomes to the human body depending on the type and spread of the bacteria. Non-infectious diseases are not contagious, which means it is not directly influenced by a bacteria, pathogen, or virus. These diseases still can be influenced by microorganisms and may have differing results based on the affect. For example a pathogen may effect an organ, cell, or system and cause it to attack itself and therefore leading to another disease.

I don’t have a lot of knowledge on the connection of microorganisms and different diseases, but I’m excited to learn more throughout the term and the varying effect on human health in general.

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