11 January, 2006
A model for "the cause of 'everything'" is hereby proposed.
"Everything" is in inverted commas for obvious reasons, but the about 1.5kg of bacteria that reside in our intestines is a potent producer of enzymes and other compounds, many of which have the capacity to do us significant damage. And the approximately 1000 species of bacteria that this represents are different for each individual. This produces a wide range of potentially negative (and many positive) outcomes, especially when superimposed against the varied genetic backgrounds of the hosts.
Back in the mid 1970's I had a discussion with Dr. William Murrell (a research scientist at CSIRO). He was investigating the mechanisms behind Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He found that the intestines of SIDS victims were full of spore-forming bacteria (Clostridia and Bacillus species). When he cultured these bacteria and put them into the intestines of rabbits, the rabbits "just went to sleep and died". He postulated that SIDS was caused by the presence of bacterial neurotoxins in sufficient quantities to affect the nerves that control breathing and that this is what caused their death.
If one puts "tetanus + autism" into Google, one gets 222,000 hits. One of the most interesting theories of what causes autism is that Clostridium tetani, the bacterium that causes tetanus, is present in the intestines of autistic children. These children test positive for the presence of antibodies to the neurotoxin produced by Cl. tetani, indicating that they have been exposed to it. When treated with antibiotics, autistic children respond dramatically but then revert once treatment stops. The theory is that the organism gets into the child's intestine while the immune system is still "learning" to distinguish friendly gut microbes from unfriendly ones. This leads to a tolerance of that bacterium and a the immune system fails to "kick it out" of the intestine. The neurotoxin travels from the intestine up the vagus nerve to the brain where it inhibits the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and possibly also acts as a vasoconstrictor and restricts the blood supply to the temporal lobes of the brain.
More next time.
"Everything" is in inverted commas for obvious reasons, but the about 1.5kg of bacteria that reside in our intestines is a potent producer of enzymes and other compounds, many of which have the capacity to do us significant damage. And the approximately 1000 species of bacteria that this represents are different for each individual. This produces a wide range of potentially negative (and many positive) outcomes, especially when superimposed against the varied genetic backgrounds of the hosts.
Back in the mid 1970's I had a discussion with Dr. William Murrell (a research scientist at CSIRO). He was investigating the mechanisms behind Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). He found that the intestines of SIDS victims were full of spore-forming bacteria (Clostridia and Bacillus species). When he cultured these bacteria and put them into the intestines of rabbits, the rabbits "just went to sleep and died". He postulated that SIDS was caused by the presence of bacterial neurotoxins in sufficient quantities to affect the nerves that control breathing and that this is what caused their death.
If one puts "tetanus + autism" into Google, one gets 222,000 hits. One of the most interesting theories of what causes autism is that Clostridium tetani, the bacterium that causes tetanus, is present in the intestines of autistic children. These children test positive for the presence of antibodies to the neurotoxin produced by Cl. tetani, indicating that they have been exposed to it. When treated with antibiotics, autistic children respond dramatically but then revert once treatment stops. The theory is that the organism gets into the child's intestine while the immune system is still "learning" to distinguish friendly gut microbes from unfriendly ones. This leads to a tolerance of that bacterium and a the immune system fails to "kick it out" of the intestine. The neurotoxin travels from the intestine up the vagus nerve to the brain where it inhibits the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin and possibly also acts as a vasoconstrictor and restricts the blood supply to the temporal lobes of the brain.
More next time.
