Gut Microbiota And Chronic Fatigue
Its all in the gut or that is what medical science is starting to realize. Every person on this planet hosts a unique and diverse community of microbes known as the gut microbiota. One of the most important discoveries made in medical science is how critical the gut microbiota is to health. That understanding has revolutionized how scientists see disease progression and outcomes.
What you dont have in your gut is just as important as what you do. Recent studies suggest that lack of diversity may impact everything from weight to your risk of chronic illness. Its still unclear how critical the microbiome is but researchers are uncovering more evidence each year to support its importance. Now, you can add chronic fatigue syndrome to the list as scientists from Cornell University think they have found a connection between this mysterious disease and gut diversity.
Find Relief From Sibo Fatigue Today
If you regularly struggle with fatigue, brain fog, and other unexplained symptoms, SIBO may be the root cause. Thats why its important to pay attention to improving your gut health.
SIBO has a reputation for being difficult to treat and relapses can happen. However, treatment success is possible when treatments are tailored to individual patients. A trusted functional medicine practitioner can be very helpful in confirming a SIBO diagnosis and personalized a long-term treatment plan to prevent bacterial overgrowth, and SIBO fatigue, from recurring.
Dr. Ruscio and his qualified staff at Austin Functional Medicine have years of experience helping patients with gastrointestinal health, nutrition, and health coaching. If youre regularly struggling with unexplained symptoms, make an appointment with us and start your journey toward a healthier life. New patients are currently accepted in-person and via telemedicine.
Alternative Or Complementary Medicine
Since there is no standard treatment for CFS/ME, people often consider alternatives to traditional medicine or use non-traditional treatments to complement their other medications. Commonly used alternative and complementary treatments include:
- Mind-body treatments, like qigong, tai chi, and meditation
- Trigger point therapy, called myofascial release
- Chiropractic treatments
Complementary therapies have received mixed results when scientifically studied. Before beginning an alternative or complementary treatment, talk with your doctor to ensure that you arent trying something potentially dangerous.
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How Ibs Can Cause Chronic Fatigue
If you suffer from crippling chronic fatigue, you may be wondering how poor digestive health can influence our energy levels. Its important to understand that all health starts in the gut. When the gut is well-balanced, diverse, not leaky, and not inflamed, optimal health will result. However, the opposite is true when the gut is in a state of dysbiosis and suffering from conditions such as IBS.
When an individual is suffering from IBS, he/she will be unable to properly absorb and assimilate the nutrients found in there food. When this occurs, the body is unable to obtain the necessary elements needed for healthy energy production in the body. As a result, the body naturally drops its energy levels and chronic fatigue results.
Furthermore, fungal overgrowths such as candida are extremely common in individuals with IBS and plays a significant role in the development of health conditions such as chronic fatigue. This is because candida, when overgrown, releases over 70 different toxic byproducts into the body. Fatigue is often a symptom of the bodys inability to properly detoxify itself of these toxic substances. If left unaddressed, conditions such as chronic fatigue will begin to manifest in the body.
The Recover Project A Thing Of Beauty
Suzanne called the NIHs RECOVER project a thing of beauty.
The NIHs $1.5 billion RECOVER program has rolled out slowly. Still, Suzanne felt it was a massive, well-thought-out program that will ultimately deliver the goods. In fact, the only program she could think of that compared to it was the fight to conquer HIV. Decades later, we have much more sophisticated technology we can bring to bear on long COVID.
Dr. Vernon said that from a research scientists perspective, the program is a thing of beauty.
Instead of being a top-down project, the study is designed to get inputs from many different people many very smart people she said and is designed to change over time. Standardized research protocols will ensure all the studies can talk to each other. All the data goes into central databases and is managed by the Data Resource Core. Hoarding data an occupational hazard in the research world is not allowed.
As big and as slow-moving as the RECOVER project has been, it appears to be a nimble project that will be able to change in response to new findings, and is receiving input from a variety of sources.
Three tiers of patients receive a standard testing protocol and produce a baseline data set. Everyone in Tier I gets a clinical examination , their blood drawn and analyzed , and receives questionnaires every 3 months for 4 years.
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Starting Menopause 4 Important Things You Need To Know About Your Gut Health And Hormones
People who are in menopause or see it on the horizon know that it comes with some serious changes to hormone levels. The end of menstruation sends your progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone levels off-balance and causes a whole host of symptoms. But the best way to get a handle on all these new sensations lies Read more
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Children Young People And Me/cfs
ME/CFS can affect people of all ages, including the very young. Young people with ME/CFS, especially children under the age of ten, might have trouble knowing or articulating that something is wrong. They may not realise that their loss of stamina, or other symptoms they are experiencing, are not normal. Alternatively, they may not have the words to describe what they are feeling.
For both younger children and teenagers, schooling can be affected but ME/CFS is not school refusal. While school refusal can often be accompanied by physical complaints , and these complaints may tend to disappear when the young person stays home, the pattern is different with ME/CFS. In a young person with ME/CFS, some symptoms never ease and symptom exacerbation is triggered by activity. In ME/CFS, symptoms are likely to be worse after school attendance, and can reduce with pacing and rest, which includes time away from school or during holidays.
Some young people with ME/CFS can continue to attend school, and others may be too unwell for regular classroom attendance. Parents, healthcare providers, schools and the child or teenager need to work together to come up with a plan for the young persons continued education. This plan needs to take into account the energy limits of ME/CFS. Being creative and flexible is key and might include things like fewer subjects or school from home.
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Common Brain Fog Causes
- Medical conditions
Each persons experience with brain fog is unique so that brain fog can be caused by a number of different factors.
In this blog post, I am going to focus onnatural brain fog remedies that have been shown scientifically to help with brain fatigue and other symptoms associated with brain fog, including poor concentration, mental confusion, and lack of memory recall.
Its important to note that brain fog can be a symptom of other underlying health conditions.
So, if you are experiencing brain fog and it does not go away after trying some of the remedies listed below, it is important to see a doctor for further evaluation.
Kynurenine Production Insufficiency In Me/cfs Patients
One of the newer research topics about the etiology of ME/CFS patients is an abnormal metabolism of tryptophan to kynurenine including its catalyst indoleamine-2, 3-dioxygenase expressed in antigen-presenting cells . The precise measurement of tryptophan and its metabolites is an interesting approach for potential biomarkers and therapies in current general research . Physiologically, the essential amino acid tryptophan is metabolized approximately 5% to serotonin and melatonin, and degraded approximately 95% by the enzyme IDO to kynurenine . IDO and the kynurenine pathway play important roles in the immune system as immunoregulators and immunosuppressors . IDO is induced by infection and inflammation through pro-inflammatory cytokines and mediators, mainly by IFN-y, but also IFN-, TNF- and LPS . Elevated IDO expressions seem to be an important hallmark of chronic viral infections such as HIV, hepatitis B and C by building an immune tolerant environment. Although elevated levels of IDO seem to correlate with the severity of diseases, the relevance of these findings remains unestablished . IDO activates regulatory T-cells and suppresses effector T-cell proliferation and function by the degradation of tryptophan to kynurenine , which enhances immunologic tolerance towards chronic infections.
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Increased Gut Permeability And Bacterial Translocation In Me/cfs Patients
Another reason for increased intestinal permeability might come from the increased by-products of the amino acid fermentation to produce SCFA , as discussed below.
Bacterial translocation could also be important concerning PEM. Shukla and co-workers examined this connection in a small study by observing phenotype characteristics, post-exertion malaise and microbiome changes 15 minutes, 48 and 72 hours after a maximal exercise test. Besides the expected large changes in pain, fatigue and confusion, interestingly also the relative abundance of the intestinal microbiota changed differentially than in the control group. Following exercise, the genus Clostridium was increased in the blood fifteen minutes later and abundances of Bacilli were significantly higher 48 hours later, which might be due to increased post-exertional bacterial translocation. The authors also pointed out that researchers should rather focus on the post-exertional changes in intestinal composition, than on the dysbiosis itself .
The Gut Infection Behind Your Chronic Fatigue
Science Based Amy Myers, MD
Amy Myers, M.D. is a functional medicine physician, trained and certified by The Institute of Functional Medicine. Dr. Myers earned her Doctor of Medicine at the LSU Health Science Center, and completed her Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Dr. Myers retired from her functional medicine clinic, Austin UltraHealth, where she served thousands of patients, to empower those who were failed by conventional medicine. Shes a 2x New York Times bestselling author, and the founder and CEO of the health & lifestyle e-commerce brand, Amy Myers MD®.
Are you constantly catching up on sleep, and running on steam day after day? Do you find yourself passing up on family events or lunch with a friend because its all you can do to just stay awake? Considering the on-the-go nature of our modern lives, its normal to feel tired every now and then, or to opt to stay in for a relaxing evening at home. However, persistent, chronic fatigue is NOT normal and is often a sign of an underlying health issue. In fact, in my practice I found that this kind of ongoing fatigue is linked to a gut infection known as small intestinal bacterial overgrowth .
This kind of bacterial overgrowth requires a particular probiotic to help you maintain a healthy balance of microflora in your gut. In addition to supplementing with the right probiotics, its important to understand what SIBO is and how to recognize it.
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Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome And Ibs
When IBS and chronic fatigue overlap, you may face a unique set of challenges. You have to treat multiple symptoms, and patients have a harder time managing their symptoms because its overwhelming sometimes, says Chang. In addition to specific symptom treatments, Chang uses interventions that she says are useful for both conditions:
- Cognitive behavioral therapy Talk therapy can give you tools to manage your condition, provide you some sense of control, and help you feel less overwhelmed.
- Medications that reduce pain Talk to your doctor about what medications may help reduce the pain from both conditions.
- Lifestyle changes Having routine activities and daily structure and not overexerting yourself can help ease symptoms of both IBS and chronic fatigue.
Chang adds that improving mood and sleep will go a long way toward improving both conditions, as well.
What Is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome /myalgic Encephalomyelitis
Chronic fatigue syndrome , also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis , is a chronic , complex and disabling illness that causes extreme fatigue and other symptoms that cannot be explained by any other medical condition.
If you have ME/CFS, you are likely to feel very tired, very often, even if you have not been active. You may also have a host of other symptoms.
Doctors do not yet understand the cause of ME/CFS, and there is no simple cure. If you or your child has ME/CFS, your doctor can suggest treatments you may find helpful.
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Increased Gut Permeability In Me/cfs
The intestinal barrier is a single-cell epithelial layer that allows the selective absorption of nutrients, electrolytes, and water through a mucous membrane. In health, epithelial cells are tightly connected by desmosomes, adherens junctions and tight junctions, which are made up of occludin, claudins, and junctional adhesion molecules respectively. Thus, intraluminal translocation of bacteria and toxins into the bloodstream is prevented . However, when homeostasis is altered, for example due to gut inflammation, dysbiosis, chronic NSAID intake, or stress, the barrier integrity is lost and commensal bacteria can reach the bloodstream . The presence of circulating lipopolysaccharide derived from gram-negative endobacteria, also known as metabolic endotoxemia, then activates the inflammatory TLR4 pathway and immune cells produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and LPS-directed IgM/IgA, thus enhancing systemic inflammation .
Therapeutic options aimed at restoring gut barrier integrity and eubiosis have been proposed. Among those, prebiotics, probiotics, fecal microbiota transplantation , and diet interventions have all shown promising results, but more studies are needed to determine their efficacy.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Involves Severe Fatigue Not Caused By Underlying Medical Conditions Be Informed Of The Risk Factors And Treatment Measures
There is ongoing debate within the medical community about the best method of diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome . Well-known medically focused organizations, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Mayo Clinic have defined clinical parameters that must be met in order to diagnose CFS as a medical condition.
A clinical diagnosis of CFS is given when a patient experiences excessive fatigue that is not considered a symptom of an existing medical condition. The fatigue does not get better after resting and may get worse after mental or physical exertion.
The US Department of Health and Human Services has in place a panel responsible for writing a report outlining how to diagnose CFS, which they now refer to as systemic exertion intolerance disease, or SEID.
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Are Gut Bacteria Linked To Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
Intestinal bacteria yield clues to the mysterious ailment, researchers say
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 27, 2017 — Scientists have found differences in the gut bacteria of people with chronic fatigue syndrome versus their healthy peers.
The finding is among the first to link abnormalities in the makeup of gut bacteria — the “microbiome” — and chronic fatigue, a mysterious and debilitating malady.
Whether these differences are merely a sign of chronic fatigue syndrome or an underlying cause isn’t clear, said study lead author Dr. W. Ian Lipkin.
But they could be tied to disease severity, said Lipkin. He is director of the Center for Infection and Immunity at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
Chronic fatigue syndrome affects about 1 million Americans — women more often than men, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
People with the syndrome typically complain of extreme fatigue after exertion, muscle and joint pain, thinking difficulty and sleep problems. But only about 20 percent of people who have the syndrome actually know it, because it’s difficult to diagnose, the CDC notes.
Scientists have begun to look to the microbiome for answers to a host of medical mysteries.
Your microbiome is the community of bacteria living on and in your body. “In this case, we are describing the bacteria in your intestines,” said Lipkin.
Currently, there are no approved treatments for chronic fatigue syndrome in the United States.
Mental Health Support And Me/cfs
ME/CFS is not a psychological disorder. However, living with a chronic illness is challenging, especially one that involves missing out on normal life activities, and this may lead to mental health problems like anxiety or depression.
Speaking with a qualified mental health professional who understands the challenges of living with ME/CFS can be very helpful. They can help with things such as coping with changes to schooling, employment or social activities, and symptoms such as difficulty with sleep or pain. With the availability of Medicare rebates for telehealth, many mental health practitioners now offer remote consultations which makes healthcare more accessible for those who are housebound or bedbound with ME/CFS.
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Sequencing Data Analyses Of Intestinal And Oral Microbiota
Illumina sequencing data were pre-processed for the OTU- and taxonomy-based analyses. After the assembly and demultiplexing of the Illumina paired-end sequences, a total of 9,967,562 and 4,774,706 raw sequences was obtained for fecal and salivary samples respectively. After quality trimming and chimera checking, these were reduced to 8,788,426 and 3,508,491 filtered sequences. To avoid biases in diversity estimates due to differences in the number of sequences per sample, rarefaction to a common minimum number of 6100 and 5200 sequences per sample was performed for fecal and salivary samples respectively, which represent the number of sequences of the lowest populated sample. After the rarefaction step, 481,803 high quality sequences for fecal samples and 585,579 high-quality sequences for salivary samples remained for further analyses. A high average Goods coverage was obtained for fecal samples, highlighting that most of bacterial diversity in the samples was represented. Conversely, in salivary samples the Goods coverage index was lower .
Subsequently, the reads were clustered in OTUs at 97% similarity, without any sub-filtering for rare OTUs, and resulted in a total of 4231 OTUs for fecal samples and 78,000 OTUs for salivary samples, with an average number of 207 and 1235 OTUs per sample respectively.
