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One in four has alarmingly few intestinal bacteria

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Posted 8/29/2013 1:20 AM (GMT 0)
FYI: Interesting,I was never heavy even prior to UC,but now have to wonder what is going on with

my gut bacteria.  This microbiome project may provide some interesting results as to what is really going on.

Hot off the press.

Old Mike

http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-08-alarmingly-intestinal-bacteria.html

Posted 8/29/2013 1:46 AM (GMT 0)
I wonder if these 25% were always like that or at some point changed into being the 25%.
Posted 8/29/2013 3:40 AM (GMT 0)
@ garyluisville - exactly

I believe tracking the same type of study over time (many years) for many people will flush things out finally.

no pun intended
Posted 8/29/2013 9:53 AM (GMT 0)
@gary,
probably, we will never find an answer to that question, unless we convince Amazonians to give their stools sample.


@Canada Mark,
What you said makes real sense. I was considering ubiome for the same purpose, so that I could track at least 3 times, now, when in flare and again when I go in remission. But the ethical issues surround ubiome are pretty stark and there is very little information on how privacy issues are handled.

I have accepted the fact that if I give sample, I will never be anonymous but as long as the data is not used against me, I don't have much problem (and no one assures that, although 23andMe talks about GENA or similar law where your info can not be used by insurance companies).
Posted 8/29/2013 1:49 PM (GMT 0)
when I registered my uBiome kit online, it gave me the option to opt out of having my sample used in research. The insurance companies already know I have UC, I would love to know my results compared to the others in the project, and I also am willing to sacrifice any privacy if it means advancing understanding of this literally $hitty illness. Personally, I think we should all worry more about data regarding our spending habits, cell phone records, facebook (which I detest) bank/loan/credit card history than the bacteria in my poop. Just my 2 cents
Posted 8/29/2013 2:31 PM (GMT 0)
I think it would be really cool if a bunch of us did it. But there's some issues I can think of when looking at the results:

1) If it's a stool sample then it's going to pick-up on what type of bacteria are in the gut lumen... so not the mucosal layer which is important as well to UC..

2) What or whom would we compare the results to? Although I'm sure we could dig out some general stats on healthy people.

3) Everyone is going to be in a different disease state so chances are the results are going to be wildly different.

I'm sure there's many others.

In any case, personally I think it would be totally interesting to do the three tests, but do it prior to starting a treatment or specific diet, a few weeks into it and again a few weeks later and see if the treatment or diet is making any changes.


@mossPiglet - When do you get or expect your results?
Posted 8/29/2013 5:34 PM (GMT 0)
I did some kind of American gut project where they do a DNA analysis of the microbia in my gut. Haven't got the results back yet and don't know what I could do with them when I do but I figured it doesn't hurt to give it a whirl.
Posted 8/29/2013 8:03 PM (GMT 0)
Very interesting link. I just sent my uBiome kit in yesterday! I am really excited to see the results. Yeah I'm not too concerned about the privacy. It is just too important not to sacrifice a little privacy.
Posted 8/29/2013 8:20 PM (GMT 0)
I can track my sample online....I think it's still on it's way to San Fran. What they said they will do is compare those who identify as IBD or celiac or________ with those who do not identify as being in that group. So it's a comparison study..not sure if I will get results like Larry Smarr did I in which he showed various genera and their relative amounts.  I also answered all their additional questions such as the 6 previous meals I had, what meds/vitamins/probiotics/cultured foods I consumed; alcohol consumed, exercise habits, how I felt during the week, etc.   I did not poop in a tube- they actually wanted you to swab your soiled TP, but like you,  my thoughts are that I need to know what's in the mucus, so I swabbed the outside of a slightly mucus-ish sample.

A few years ago when the Micribiome project just started, NYT had a piece about it and as I recall, they identified a smallish # of gut "types" represented world-wide (think it was world-wide,maybe only US) anyway, and they also said that there was one "type" that was consistently associated with IBD and that was distinctly different than the other types.  I also got a kinda cool-looking uBiome t-shirt.

Posted 8/29/2013 8:55 PM (GMT 0)
Moss: That will be a different test then I was talking about.

I see you are a tweener.
Good but different.
There is stool,mucus like you just did, and mucosa which probably needs to be done with biopsy.
Well it will be interesting to see what is growing in the mucus.
Might be different than stool or mucosa, who knows.
Old Mike

Post Edited (Old Mike) : 8/29/2013 3:11:32 PM (GMT-6)

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