Brain and Gut

It has been long known that stress and duodenal ulcers are somehow related. Diabetes, Ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease, reflux oesophagitis, gastritis, irritable bowel syndrome and various bowel cancers have also been linked to anxiety and depression. The mechanism always seemed obscure. Psychotherapy and medications often treat these bowel complaints
Research has looked at bowel flora, the germs that live in our gut, with interesting links to brain function. This has led to recent 'poo' transplants being used in limited situations and some early studies have used probiotics as preventative treatments for PTSD in animal models. Keightley, Koloski & Talley from ANU Medical School recently reviewed the evidence for gut-brain pathways of communication (Keightley PC, Koloski NA & Talley NJ, 20015, Pathways in gut-brain communications: Evidence fr distinct gut-brain and brain-gut syndromes,  Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 49 (3) pps 207-214).
Although there are many pathways of communication proposed between gut and brain, the evidence is still lacking for full understanding. Hopefully it will provide a rich area for future research and simple treatments for a variety of psychiatric and gastro-enterological illnesses.
Perhaps ' you are what you eat' has many deeper meanings than we see at first glance.

Domestic violence

The news seems to have related a huge increase in domestic violence, especially murder, la crime passioanlle of late. This is only one phase of the cycle, albeit dramatic and tragic.
What happens to the children and how will they cope? They lose both parents. How will they learn about love, communication and anger management or will they create the intergenerational progress of this problem? How to help the perpetrator cope, learn, move on in life.
Most of these families have been dealing with the problem for many years. How can love for a partner turn to fear and then loathing. At what time do you realise that love will not fix all problems and the idyll of romance is not as it should be? When to support and when to cut and run? Protection of children versus giving them the right to know their parents becomes such a subjective matter that the Courts have to make decisions over.
How much of this private space should be aired in public? Is one ever safe?
I have seen many perpetrators of domestic violence realise that they have a problem and seek help. They have turned their lives around and learn valuable skills for their future. Sometimes too late for their marriage or relationships with family, friends and children. Of course there are many who do not see that they have a problem, will not seek help and remain a danger.
May I suggest that getting help early avoids total breakdown and tragic ends.
May I suggest good communication learning early in life, throughout a relationship and when a problem arises. Relationships can be fragile but they are the cornerstone of our society.