Quote:Finnish study connects infants' intestinal microbes to childhood diabetes


One of the biggest answers to this question was hinted at by the study, conducted with nearly 300 Finnish, Estonian and Russian children by studying their faeces during their first three years of life. All the subjects had a genetic predisposition to diabetes.

The first result was a surprise that opened many doors to solving the puzzle.

"The composition of the microflora in children's intestines was extremely different in Russian and Finnish infants," Vatanen explains. "Finnish subjects began to develop autoantibodies to Type I diabetes, meaning the disease's early symptoms. Russian children did not develop the antibodies at all, despite having the same risk."

Vatanen's conclusion was that something in Finnish children's surroundings predisposes them to autoimmune illnesses. The Estonian infants' results were also eye-opening.

"A couple decades ago Type I diabetes incidence was very low in Estonia, but now it's almost as common as in Finland," Vatanen says.

A bacterial surface molecule called lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was a key difference. Finnish kids have much more of them than Russians, which is why Vatanen's team tested its link with diabetes.

"It is important in the first years of immune system development. In a way, intestinal microbes teach the body's immune system. If something goes wrong this early on, autoimmune diseases may become more common."

http://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/finnis...es/9530493

Nope. And I expect a lot more of research the next few years connecting gut microbes to a lot of ailments, physical and mental.

Quote:Vatanen says to keep in mind that intestinal microflora are extremely complicated, and that the technology to study them has been around for only a few years.

Yes and excessive use of antibiotics for babies is obviously a horrible idea,

Poop transplants for everyone!

Did anyone compare natural childbirth to C-section where the newborn is exposed to the contaminates in the vaginal area, because that's where studies have shown exposure to be critical in the formation of the composition of our makeup of
bacterial (read that we are a walking talking bacterial expression of our exposure at birth) inheritance at birth VS coming out through a sterilized surgical opening in the stomach?