Writing Exercise #5

Food and drink consumption decisions we make everyday can impact our gut microbiome. Some food choices that I make that can have an impact on my microbial communities include not eating yogurt. I’m not a big fan of yogurt so I choose not to eat it, which could decrease the diversity in my gut. However, I do eat pickles and other foods containing probiotics that may balance out that lack. Alcohol consumption is also something that could have a negative impact on my microbial communities. I didn’t realize until recently that alcohol isn’t good for gut microbial communities, but now that I know I may start making conscious decisions to improve my gut health via microbial communities.

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Writing Exercise #4

In the research article “Effects of Helicobacter pylori eradication on atrophic gastritis and intestinal metaplasia: A 3-year follow-up study” (2005) Dr. Bin Lu of the Department of Gastroenterology at Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang Traditional Chinese Medicine College claims that H. pylori eradication can prevent gastric cancer by decreasing chronic gastritis, atrophy, and intestinal metaplasia. Dr. Lu’s supporting evidence was provided by a 3-year study in which 92 patients were given eradication therapy then displayed a decrease in Chronic gastritis, active gastritis, and atrophy, and 87 were left untreated then displayed an increase in intestinal metaplasia. The purpose of this research article was to show the impact of eradication therapies on improving gastric inflammation and preventing cancer. Dr. Lu establishes a scholarly and imploring relationship with other professionals in gastroenterology as well as healthcare professionals as a whole.

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Writing Exercise #3

The gut microbiome is vast and while regulated can change based on human behavior. One such behavior is the amount of fiber someone has in their diet. By increasing the amount of fiber an individual consumes they can fill nutritional niches that specific healthy gut microbes need. While we often associate bacteria as being negative, our digestive system is heavily reliant on these microbes so providing them with proper nutrition can increase the health of an individual by improving digestion and nutrient uptake. Another behavior that can have an impact on the gut microbiome is an antibiotic regime. While antibiotics are a common protocol in curing certain diseases, it does have a negative impact on the gut microbiome by killing bacteria that we actually need. This is why antibiotics are often prescribed with specific diet suggestions. This has a balancing effect on an individual’s health because they may recover from their disease, but will also have to rebuild their gut microbiome. Finally, a common behavior that influences the gut microbiome is alcohol consumption. While alcohol is occasionally used to treat outside infection by killing bacteria, it can have the opposite impact in the gut by killing microbes that we need. Not only is this bad for the individual’s gut health but it can help progress things like liver disease. In essence, the gut microbiome is very important so we should be aware of how are behaviors will affect it.

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Writing Exercise #2

HPV viruses have a massive number of strains, each with varying levels of intensity and carcinogenicity, which means that treatment and vaccine protocols should be different as well. According to Sarid and Gao 2011, there are already vaccines for some high risk strains like HPV16 and HPV18. Those should be covered in treatment immediately due to “accounting for up to ~80% of cervical cancer” as well as being associated with other types of cancer. However, many strains still don’t have vaccines. Due to the cost of developing vaccines I would argue that strains listed as possibly carcinogenic should not have vaccines developed for them. Rather, treatment when the virus is acquired should be immediate and those people should be monitored for abnormal cell growth so that if cancer develops, it is caught early. Overall, I think vaccination for highly carcinogenic HPVs is necessary, but that other strains should simply be monitored closely, rather than attempting to snuff them out.

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Writing Exercise #1

A few non-infectious diseases that are influenced by microorganisms include cancer, asthma, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis (MS). Although not all of these are directly caused by microorganisms, they can each be influenced by microorganisms. Viruses can be a risk factor for cancer because of the effect they can have on a cell’s DNA if infected. In Asthma, microorganisms that exists naturally in the respiratory tract may have an effect on symptoms, although I’m not sure what those exact effects would be. Alzheimer’s is not caused by a specific microorganism, but I have read that sometimes certain diseases can trigger the onset of Alzheimer’s. Finally, MS is a highly studied disease that recently has been shown to influence the gut microbiome. Overall, I don’t know much about non-infectious diseases related to microorganisms, but it seems logical that with all of the various microbes in our body, many non-infectious diseases would be influenced by them even if the relationship is not ’cause and effect’.

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