Bacteria in the brain

[Zardoz]

"The fecal microbiota (which is the gut microbiota obtained from feces) is different in people with different illnesses. People with Parkinson ’s have a different microbiota than people who don’t have it."

"...an undergraduate student who was part of an honors program here at the University of Alabama, Courtney Walker was studying the substantia nigra, which is a region of the brain that contains dopamine neurons. She kept seeing these objects—we called them 'those things'—and kept poking at the problem."

getpocket.com/explore/item/...

Article looks at bacteria infecting the brain, potentially causing disease

[GymBag]

This is an example of a process of invention that has been effective almost by accident for generations but is now becoming more usual in occurrence with the increase in speed of information transfer. A person in one field overhears a person in a different field discussing something observed but not understood. He recognizes what it would be in his field of expertise and then working together something is gained. It is difficult and expensive almost impossible to purposely assign experts in every field to work together, but now the internet is distributing information so fast and far, and making all of it available to every field that every step of the discovery process is being accelerated.

There is great hope. Discovery is coming in leaps and bounds and is not being restricted to drug companies who can spend the big money but is instead being produced by the university labs around the world. Edison did not discover the vacuum filament light bulb alone .

[WinnieThePoo in reply to GymBag]

Undoubtedly this area is attracting increasing attention and confirmation of a link between the gut and the brain. I still have in mind to look next at a faecal transplant, after my SPARK trial completes, if that doesn't produce a total solution.

The results of the Belgian clinical trials should be available by then.

And I agree - from a number of sources there is great hope.

[nellie58]

This is interesting. Clearly from all the research around gut bacteria being different in Parkinsons people and now this study showing bacteria has been shown alive and dividing in the brain, maybe an antibiotic might be developed to target this unusual bacteria? Or a probiotic? It would be fantastic if there was something to restore the gut bacteria in Parkinsons people so it is the same as healthy people.

[LAJ12345]

Perhaps the bacteria are coming from the teeth not the gut? We have seen articles on that before.

And what are the bacteria? Have they been identified?