(ORDO NEWS) — Bacteria are our friends. Honestly. In any case, most of them. And although it is difficult for us to talk about these microorganisms as something good, however, our body, especially the intestines, oh, how they need them so that it can function effectively.
Why, according to microbiologists, we are 90% bacteria! But not all “neighbors” are so good: among them there are those with whom it would be nice to finally make friends, there are nasty, but under certain circumstances safe, and there are also completely harmful, from which there is one hassle.
The human body is home to trillions of strange and wonderful life forms. Only in our intestines contains about one and a half kilograms of bacteria, a total of about four hundred different species.
With useful we live in symbiosis, they help digest food and produce enzymes that we use to absorb the necessary nutrients. Others produce potentially harmful toxins, and if their population is not constantly contained, then expect trouble.
The advantage in one direction or another depends on diet, age, stress, occasional alcohol consumption, and a number of other factors.
Everyone is terribly afraid of E. coli, and rightly so. For example, some strains (such as O157:H7) cause severe illness and even death in the elderly, young children, and immunocompromised individuals. However, other strains are part of the normal intestinal flora of humans and animals.
E. coli benefits the host organism, for example, by synthesizing the K vitamins (required for the synthesis of proteins that ensure normal blood coagulation levels), as well as preventing the development of pathogenic microorganisms in the intestine.
Or take salmonella: the well-known pathogens of food poisoning live happily on our skin without any harmful consequences for us. We have a lot of life on our skin. Bacteria associated with sweat glands and hair follicles are especially abundant.
They can sometimes cause acne, but with a healthy immune system they do not harm us. Staphylo-, pneumo- and streptococci, pathogens of tonsillitis, meningitis, pneumonia and other unpleasant infections constantly live on the mucous membrane of the nasopharynx.
A bacterium from the genus troponema lives in the mouth, which does not cause harm to a healthy person, but to those who do not follow oral hygiene causes a lot of trouble. Her relative is the causative agent of syphilis.
The well-known pathogens of food poisoning live happily on our skin without any harmful consequences for us.
The Helicobacter pylori bacterium, which infects various areas of the stomach and duodenum, is not afraid of gastric juice and feels great in the digestive system. Many cases of ulcers in these organs, gastritis, duodenitis, gastric cancer, and some cases of gastric lymphomas are associated with this infection. But for most healthy people, it is safe.
Cork Institute of Technology in Ireland, Dr. Roy D. Slyator, has spent years studying our roommates. He quite seriously claims that the bacteria living in the human body is a separate organ, not inferior in importance to the liver.
This bacterial-human interaction is largely symbiotic: in exchange for food and nutrition, bacteria help digestion, produce vitamins, and strengthen our innate immune system.
They protect us from infection by pathogens, so-called harmful bacteria. Animals and people that do not have the bacteria or have a reduced population (due to antibiotic treatment, for example) are much more susceptible to infection.
We cannot completely eliminate all harmful bacteria, but usually the number of friendly microorganisms in our body is several times greater.
True, sometimes force majeure happens and the balance changes. Guarding this delicate balance is the immune system, which is two-thirds made up of friendly gut bacteria. Each person contains about 500 different types of unicellular organisms.
They multiply into about 100 trillion individual cells, far more than the few trillion human cells that make up one person. We are really only 10% of our body, everything else is our single-celled “neighbors”.
—
Online:
Contact us: [email protected]
Our Standards, Terms of Use: Standard Terms And Conditions.