For some years now, life science and medical research has focused on the question of how the microorganisms living in and on a body influence central life processes and thus health and disease of their host organisms. Scientists at Kiel University, among others, have been able to gather numerous hints that suggest that the microbial colonization of the body, the so-called microbiome, and the development of disease are causally related. Especially chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) seem to be closely linked to the composition and balance of the microbiome. Together with numerous other so-called environmental diseases, their incidence has risen sharply in recent decades. Researchers see one possible cause in the massive decline in microbial diversity in the human microbiome. The impoverishment of the microbiome is presumably due to the radical change in living conditions in western society, which are characterized by industrially produced food, comprehensive hygiene measures, massive use of antibiotics and socially isolated lifestyles, among other things. Researchers see great potential in future interventions to restore a healthy microbiome. Important clues for defining such a healthy state are provided by comparative microbiome studies—both with non-westernized human societies and with animals.
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Source: Phys.org