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.
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.
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