Free Republic

A team of epidemiologists has shown experimental evidence of an inverse relationship between incidences of Alzheimer's disease and colorectal cancer. The group found that mice with Alzheimer's-like symptoms were less likely than control colorectal mouse models to develop colorectal cancer. For years, doctors have been noticing that people who develop Alzheimer's are less likely to develop certain types of cancers, mostly particularly, colon cancer. They have also noticed the reverse; colorectal patients seem to be less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease. For this study, the researchers ran experiments with mice to find out whether an association exists. The researchers administered...

Bacteria have thousands of genes and functions that we, the human host, do not have. For instance, bacteria can help us digest fiber, provide support to our immune systems, and absorb important nutrients. But reaping the benefits of "good bacteria" is easier said than done. Andrea Azcarate-Peril, Ph.D., is trying to understand how to better prescribe probiotics based on our individual microbiomes—or the collection of genomes from all microbes that naturally live inside of us. Azcarate-Peril says that if you want to start boosting your microbiome more effectively and reliably, rotate your probiotics and consume a variety of fermented foods...