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The research going into the gut these days is going to make for some incredible advancements. A research doctor I respect told me that he suspects we have more

The research going into the gut these days is going to make for some incredible advancements. A research doctor I respect told me that he suspects we have more connectivity between our stomachs and our brains than anyone really realizes. So much of who we are and what we do is centered around how we take in fuel. Some good news this week for folks who have GERD, or chronic acid reflux, they discovered the cause: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/05/17/researchers-discover-actual-cause-gerd.html http://www.foxnews.com/health/2016/05/17/researchers-discove...

TheBiv 10y ago
There is a really good book written in 1999 that expounds on your research doctors point (and is written with a very approachable tone) http://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understanding-Disorders/dp/0060930721 http://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understand...
noir_lord 10y ago
I have Barrets Oesphagus (caused by chronic GERD). That is amazing news!.
AznHisoka 10y ago
Link is down?
j1vms 10y ago
With a lot of human culture revolving around eating meals communally, including as family, or to facilitate diplomacy or business relations and as official decorum itself, and this indeed for millenia I suppose, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that what we've had in our stomachs, has shaped our entire history on this planet.
TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
I'm not sure I follow how a cytokine can be a cause. Cytokines are, generally, cell signalling molecules. In the case of GERD, if I understand the process correctly, these cytokines are instructing the tissue of the esophagus, and associated immune system cells, to initiate the inflammatory response. Inflammatory responses in mucosal tissues typically include an increase in mucous production, which is the body's attempt to protect the tissue from the refluxed stomach acid. So it follows that the first tissue changes you should expect to see are inflammation and increase mucous production as the body tries to protect itself from exposure to stomach acid. This doesn't mean the cytokines cause the inflammation, nor that they cause acid reflux, they're just the cell signalling molecule that initiates the inflammatory response, released in response to increased acidity on the tissue surfaces, released long before gross changes occur as a result of acid damage. If we give medicines to dampen the cytokine release, or dampen the inflammatory response to the cytokines, thereby reducing the inflammation, that doesn't mean the tissue won't be damaged by the acid reflux - if anything, down-regulating the normal inflammatory immune response will worsen the damage caused by the acid. The question is: what is causing the acid reflux?
- DavidSJ 10y ago
  If A results in B being taken as a preventative measure (to stop Q), and then C occurs as a result of that preventative measure, then the causal graph looks like A->B->C. That is, both A and B can be said to cause C, in the standard counterfactual sense of the word "cause": if you hold everything but X constant, and add more X, and more Y occurs, then X causes Y. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do B. If Q is worse than C, it's still a good choice. But it does cause C.
_98fj 10y ago
There are well established connections. About 90% of the neurotransmitter serotonin in your body is produced by enterochromaffin cells in the stomach. Though this does not directly affect the brain (the brain has it's own serotonine synthesis) it modulates a multitude of responses like blood pressure, body temperature, which, in turn, affect the mood. Quote from Wikipedia: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and is found in all bilateral animals, where it mediates gut movements and the animal's perceptions of resource availability. [citation needed] In less complex animals, such as some invertebrates, resources simply mean food availability. In more complex animals, such as arthropods and vertebrates, resources also can mean social dominance. In response to the perceived abundance or scarcity of resources, an animal's growth, reproduction or mood may be elevated or lowered. This may somewhat depend on how much serotonin the organism has at its disposal.

TheBiv 10y ago

There is a really good book written in 1999 that expounds on your research doctors point (and is written with a very approachable tone) http://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understanding-Disorders/dp/0060930721 http://www.amazon.com/Second-Brain-Groundbreaking-Understand...

noir_lord 10y ago

I have Barrets Oesphagus (caused by chronic GERD). That is amazing news!.

AznHisoka 10y ago

Link is down?

j1vms 10y ago

With a lot of human culture revolving around eating meals communally, including as family, or to facilitate diplomacy or business relations and as official decorum itself, and this indeed for millenia I suppose, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that what we've had in our stomachs, has shaped our entire history on this planet.

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago

I'm not sure I follow how a cytokine can be a cause. Cytokines are, generally, cell signalling molecules. In the case of GERD, if I understand the process correctly, these cytokines are instructing the tissue of the esophagus, and associated immune system cells, to initiate the inflammatory response. Inflammatory responses in mucosal tissues typically include an increase in mucous production, which is the body's attempt to protect the tissue from the refluxed stomach acid. So it follows that the first tissue changes you should expect to see are inflammation and increase mucous production as the body tries to protect itself from exposure to stomach acid. This doesn't mean the cytokines cause the inflammation, nor that they cause acid reflux, they're just the cell signalling molecule that initiates the inflammatory response, released in response to increased acidity on the tissue surfaces, released long before gross changes occur as a result of acid damage. If we give medicines to dampen the cytokine release, or dampen the inflammatory response to the cytokines, thereby reducing the inflammation, that doesn't mean the tissue won't be damaged by the acid reflux - if anything, down-regulating the normal inflammatory immune response will worsen the damage caused by the acid. The question is: what is causing the acid reflux?

DavidSJ 10y ago
If A results in B being taken as a preventative measure (to stop Q), and then C occurs as a result of that preventative measure, then the causal graph looks like A->B->C. That is, both A and B can be said to cause C, in the standard counterfactual sense of the word "cause": if you hold everything but X constant, and add more X, and more Y occurs, then X causes Y. That doesn't mean you shouldn't do B. If Q is worse than C, it's still a good choice. But it does cause C.

_98fj 10y ago

There are well established connections. About 90% of the neurotransmitter serotonin in your body is produced by enterochromaffin cells in the stomach. Though this does not directly affect the brain (the brain has it's own serotonine synthesis) it modulates a multitude of responses like blood pressure, body temperature, which, in turn, affect the mood. Quote from Wikipedia: Serotonin is a neurotransmitter and is found in all bilateral animals, where it mediates gut movements and the animal's perceptions of resource availability. [citation needed] In less complex animals, such as some invertebrates, resources simply mean food availability. In more complex animals, such as arthropods and vertebrates, resources also can mean social dominance. In response to the perceived abundance or scarcity of resources, an animal's growth, reproduction or mood may be elevated or lowered. This may somewhat depend on how much serotonin the organism has at its disposal.