WSJ Article: Gut Reaction: 'Good' Microbes Under Attack

[Guest guest]

" Mainstream " article on gut flora, antibiotics, & NIH studies underway. I always

wonder if they will ever recognize Elaine and her work . . .

Kim

Gut Reaction: 'Good' Microbes Under Attack

By BARBARA MARTINEZ

Add this to the list of reasons why you should be cautious about taking

antibiotics: Some of these drugs may permanently wipe out the " good " bugs in

your gut that fight off the " bad " ones.

In tests on mice, Young at the University of Michigan Medical School

found that a certain antibiotic permanently decreased the diversity of the

animals' " microbiota " —the trillions of microscopic bugs that inhabit the gut and

which may be very beneficial.

The study was published in June in the journal Infection and Immunity.

" We may be doing long-term damage to our close friends, " said Dr. Young, 46

years old, referring to the good bugs.

Dr. Young, who is an assistant professor in the school's departments of internal

medicine and microbiology and immunology, has spent the past several years

studying communities of microbes found in the gut—the gastrointestinal tract,

which includes the mouth, the stomach and the intestines.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204044204574356434070272984.html