Science is fascinating. There is ample evidence that it is not always correct. The acceptance of geocentricity, vitalism, the four humors, and more illustrate how wrong scientists have gotten things over the eons. These examples are notable because they were spectacularly incorrect and yet had popular acceptance at one point or another. There are undoubtedly many other debunked hypotheses littering our path to today, perhaps less known, perhaps more or less incorrect. However, there are likely just as many scientific successes and miracle cures that sounded a bit off-base when they were proposed.
That occurred to me recently when I ran across an article on ENM News Seeking an Obesity Cure, Researchers Turn to the Gut Microbiome. This describes a scientist in Boston who sought to study the causes of our burgeoning obesity epidemic. She hypothesized that our modern world is deleterious to "the community of trillions of microbes that live in the gut." Yes, we are all full of bugs essentially. The scientists concede that the role of these microbes on our lives, and whether they play a role in our bodies' propensity for weight retention is not fully understood.
There is no doubt that we are increasingly obese. The Centers for Disease Control has studied this. The prevalence of obesity is increasing. The medical risks associated with our body weight are gaining recognition. The financial costs of our obesity and related medical conditions are estimated at a staggering ($147 billion annually). And, there is evidence that it disproportionately afflicts particular ethnicities, economic groups, education groups, and ages. There is ample justification for science to work towards helping us address obesity.
The Boston endocrinologist hypothesized that the microbiome has either a causative or cooperative involvement in obesity. To test that hypothesis, "she put out a call a few years ago for overweight people" to participate in a study. The enthusiastic response was overwhelming. It was more so considering that the test subjects were asked "to swallow capsules containing stool." You read that right. The experiment involved harvesting stool from thin patients and then introducing that into the digestive tracts of the test subjects.
The theory was that the elements of the microbiome contribute to how we digest food, absorb nutrients, and/or store fat. The ENM reports that "the link between the gut and metabolic disease is a growing area of obesity research." There are literally "trillions of microbes that live in the gut," and the question is essentially whether metabolism and weight can be affected by transplanting "fecal microbiota."
To say that this has attracted skepticism would perhaps be an understatement. The ENM story reminds us that "fecal transplants will never replace diet, exercise, (and) behavioral therapies. There is seemingly consensus that one of the great challenges with obesity is that it "is a very complex disorder." One expert on microbiome cautions that obesity is more complex than the repopulation issue (when antibiotics destroy one's bugs). He notes that there are an array of factors, including genetics, diet, environment, and lifestyle" that influence obesity. Therefore, he concludes it is unlikely that "a single intervention, a transplant of a new community of microbes," could be an effective singular solution to obesity.
Despite the caution that this will not be a singular solution, there is evidence of its potential. Prior studies have demonstrated increased "microbial diversity" as well as "insulin sensitivity," which researchers in Holland concluded as support for a change in metabolism following such transplants. There have also been reports of medical benefits in "small studies." Contrarily, the recent testing in America did not reveal similar metabolic improvement.
Researchers are not, it seems, contending that the microbiome is singularly "the" obesity solution or even a major solution. however, they contend that in a particular patient, it may be "playing a big part." They advocate for researching it not as a be-all and end-all, but as believing that it may help some to overcome obesity challenges.
Despite the caution that this will not be a singular solution, there is evidence of its potential. Prior studies have demonstrated increased "microbial diversity" as well as "insulin sensitivity," which researchers in Holland concluded as support for a change in metabolism following such transplants. There have also been reports of medical benefits in "small studies." Contrarily, the recent testing in America did not reveal similar metabolic improvement.
Researchers are not, it seems, contending that the microbiome is singularly "the" obesity solution or even a major solution. however, they contend that in a particular patient, it may be "playing a big part." They advocate for researching it not as a be-all and end-all, but as believing that it may help some to overcome obesity challenges.
Scientists have concluded that there are clear distinctions in the "microbiomes of obese and lean people." And, it may be that distinctions begin very early in life. Using tests on the gut bacteria of children as young as 6 months old" has allowed the scientists to draw conclusions and make predictions of that person's "future weight gain." It appears that some of us may be blessed, or cursed, with digestive systems that are more efficient and effective than others. If we are in that efficient group, then we perhaps absorb nutrients more than other people, and thus gain weight more easily.
These scientists are building upon research that has demonstrated the benefits of "fecal transplant" when repopulating a patient's bacteria, which has been compromised through the use of antibiotics. That success perhaps drives current research despite critics' doubts about the parallel to obesity. Knowing that stool transplants have worked in that situation, scientists are seeking to transplant lean or thinner people's microbiomes to the obese through stool pills. They hypothesize that such a transplant may affect the donee's microbiome and aid the battle against obesity.
In the end, none of the studies has proven a connection between stool transplantation and weight loss. That is perhaps because no studies have been long enough to measure that, or because there is no connection. Time will tell if there is a medical benefit to transplanting these microbes or whether the theory finds a place on the list of unproven theories with geocentricity and more.
