The Worm Turns

[lsanderson]

By MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF

In the early 1990s, Joel Weinstock, a gastroenterologist, encountered a puzzle. The prevalence of inflammatory bowel disease (I.B.D.) across North America increased markedly during the 20th century. Many thought that “bad” genes would eventually explain the spike, but Weinstock didn’t buy it. In areas where fewer than two generations ago the I.B.D. incidence might have been as low as 1 in 10,000, it was now 1 in 250. A defective gene couldn’t spread that quickly, he reasoned. It had to be something in the environment. But what? Stumped, Weinstock tried turning the question around. Instead of asking what triggered I.B.D., he asked what, before the 20th century, protected against it? More

Comments

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

This is some seriously fascinating shit.
We have within us all manner of flora and fauna.
Some of which are very productive.
Our problem lies in the failure of medicine to differentiate what it is killing.

[yarram.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised it's taken the medical community this long to latch onto that idea. After all, it's already well-documented that the active cultures in yogurt help with various digestive problems. Why not other helpful microorganisms, as well?

"helpful"

[lsanderson.livejournal.com]

Helpful is the key I think. They're not generally helpful.

Re: "helpful"

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

We don't always know.

Re: "helpful"

[yarram.livejournal.com]

Oh, I dunno. Penicillin. Cephalosporins. Lots of other antibiotics are microbe-based. But I agree that "helpful" is the key word. Sometimes it's hard to distinguish a parasite from a symbiote, especially when the symbiosis occurs in the form of immune enhancement or fighting off less-useful microbes.