We all know it’s good to introduce some variety, with some yogurt or fermented vegetables, into our diet to add some variety to life but also to benefit our guts’ microbiome. Researchers are continually finding new correlations between our health and our microbiome, affecting even such things as mood and hunger cravings.
New research shows a correlation between our microbiomes and our susceptibility to stroke.
From your guts to your brains
Scientists have been investigating the potential correlations between the microbiome and strokes, and studies have suggested that there is a correlation.
A team led by Dr. Miquel Lledós from the Sant Pau Research Institute in Barcelona, Spain examined stool samples from 89 patients who had recently endured an ischaemic stroke, which is where a blood clot blocks the flow of oxygen to the brain. They also examined samples from healthy patients, as a control. The team performed DNA sequencing to examine which microorganisms may have played a role in the stroke patients’ recovery.
“We identified new [bacterial] taxa associated with a higher risk of stroke severity in the acute phase at six hours and at 24 hours,” Lledós said. “We also identified one class, one genus, and one species related to poor functional outcomes at three months after ischaemic stroke.”
This gives doctors a new method to identify patients who might be susceptible to ischaemic stroke, the most common type.
“The discovery opens the exciting prospect that, in the future, we may be able to prevent strokes or improve neurological recovery by examining the gut microbiota. Nowadays, there are no specific neuroprotective treatments to prevent neurological worsening after stroke. The use of new therapies such as changes in the microbiome through nutritional changes or fecal transplantation could be useful to improve post-stroke evolution.”
Additionally, researchers led by Cyprien Rivier from Yale University examined data from 2,300 participants involved in the Flemish Gut Flora Project, plus a further 34,000 people enrolled in a large study examining the role of genetics in stroke risk. They identified five bacteria associated with stroke risk.
Now that researchers know that certain patients’ DNA makes them more susceptible to stroke-related bacteria, they will next examine the mechanisms by which these gut bacteria influence strokes.
Source Study: Medical Press — New study links gut microbiota strains with more severe strokes and poorer post-stroke recovery (medicalxpress.com)
