
Joint Pain, from the Gut (2015) - bootload
http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/joint-pain-from-the-gut/383772/?single_page=true
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junto
Helicobacter pylori is blamed for increasing the risk of stomach cancer. My
gastroenterologist treated me to get rid of it for this reason.

That being said, since 50% of the world's population have this in their gut,
I'm starting to get the feeling that modern medicine doesn't have the entire
picture with relation to the microbiome and their are making drastic decisions
based on half that story.

It seems increasingly likely that the delicate balance of bacteria inside the
gut, or more specifically its imbalance, is closely linked to a variety of
autoimmune diseases.

The long term consequences of antibiotics, highly processed foods and sugars,
alongside the corn phenomenon is not understood and could well be changing is
for the worse.

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mkskm
The man who first made this connection with H. Pylori, Martin J. Blaser,
thinks the same thing:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_J._Blaser#Research](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_J._Blaser#Research)

He has a book on it too, “Missing Microbes”. It’s sad how much dogma there is
in the medical community.

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junto
Interesting. Thanks for sharing that.

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oniMaker
"Finnish researchers found that a vegan diet changed the gut microbiome, and
that this change was linked to an improvement in arthritis symptoms."

I had a suspicion when I started reading this article that the simplest
solution would be to cut meat out of the diet.

It's astounding how many problems are solved medically, environmentally,
economically, and of course ethically if we simply stop consuming meat, or at
least stop consuming it at such extreme levels!

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mikro2nd
The question I wonder about -- and I speak as a non meat-eater -- is whether
it is, indeed, the meat itself that is at fault, or the payload of
antibiotics, growth hormones, colourants, preservatives, etc. that are the
product of contemporary factory-style production of meat.

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dpatrick86
Those things are no doubt playing a huge role, but as a person increases their
consumption of meat they may also be crowding out fiber. Fiber is substrate
for the microbiome. Listen to what Dr. Justin Sonnenburg out of the department
of microbiology & immunology at Stanford has to say about the importance of
fiber...
[https://youtu.be/gOZcbNw7sng?t=6m19s](https://youtu.be/gOZcbNw7sng?t=6m19s)

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jmadsen
There was a fascinating RadioLab episode on similar not too long ago.

There are indications, too, that these microbes may affect/control things like
depression, bipolar, etc.

We may see some amazing medical breakthroughs in this area in the coming years

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discardorama
FTA: "In another study published in October, Scher found that patients with
psoriatic arthritis, another kind of autoimmune joint disease, had
significantly lower levels of other types of intestinal bacteria."

But what if the bacteria were destroyed by the body first, after being
targeted by the body's own immune defenses?

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vikingcaffiene
I found this article very interesting. I suffer from RA and I can tell you
that it sucks. It attacks more than just your joints. Things like minor coughs
and colds will hang on for forever and make you vulnerable as you age. Scary
stuff. Its good to know that there are possible treatments on the horizon.

