The Latest Research On Friendly Gut Bugs

The latest research on friendly gut bugs—including new and surprising uses for probiotic supplements

- Vera Tweed

The gut microbiome—the bacterial community in our digestive tract—continues to be a hot topic as scientists find more ways in which it influences human health, from improving resistance to colds and flu to enhancing the ability to maintain a healthy weight. And scientists have recently discovered that a healthy gut may also help fight serious lung diseases.

A study at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor found errant gut microbes in the lungs of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (severely inflamed, fluid-filled lungs). “We suspect that the gut wall gets leaky and gut bacteria ‘escape’ to the lungs,” says researcher Robert Dickson, MD. The misplaced gut bugs contribute to the disease, and this discovery may lead to new treatments for the condition, a leading killer of patients in intensive care units for which there is no effective medical treatment. Other lung diseases that may be influenced by the gut microbiome include chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, pneumonia, and even lung cancer.

Solving the Leaky Gut Problem