What parents have long agonized over is coming to the
forefront of medical research---and Mom, you were (are) right! The connection between the gut and the brain
is being revealed in research at breakneck speed. A few of the most momentous (and my personal
favorites) are:
·
From Johns Hopkins University---research on the
enteric nervous system (two thin layers of 100 million nerve cells) and its
effect on the brain could revolutionize treatment for both neurological and
gastrointestinal conditions. While the
association between IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and depression have long
been known, it was assumed anxiety/depression contributed to bouts with
IBS---and now it is understood that it is likely the other way around. And this begs the question: Does it have to be one way or the other? Is it possible the IBS affects
anxiety/depression AND the anxiety/depression affects IBS? Is there a two-way street happening here?
Regardless of the answer, nutrition is highlighted for improvement in
these and many other conditions previously considered strictly “mental.” Click here to read more.
· Researchers at the Harvard-affiliated Brigham
and Women’s Hospital have uncovered a connection between bacteria living in the
digestive system and neurodegenerative diseases, such as multiple sclerosis. “For the first time, we’ve been able to
identify that food has some sort of remote control over central nervous system
inflammation,” said a lead researcher in the study. Results were published in Nature Medicine in May 2016. Once again, nutrition is shown to have a profound, perhaps causative
and/or curative affect for debilitating conditions once thought incurable. Click here to read more.
· The University of Virginia’s School of Medicine
reports they have discovered structures PREVIOUSLY UNDETECTED which link the
gut and the brain. I repeat---structures
within the body which were not known to exist have been discovered. This is as stunning as it is exciting. “We believe that for every neurological
disease that has an immune component to it, these vessels may play a major role,”
said a professor from the Neuroscience Department. This shifts the entire approach to diseases
from Alzheimer’s to autism to multiple sclerosis. Click here to read more.
These studies, and many more, can
be summed up in the words of Kevin Lee, who chairs the Department of
Neuroscience at the University of Virginia, “They’ll have to rewrite the
textbooks.” And thank goodness.
