Human beings all over the world are faced with an overwhelming number of diseases and health conditions that affect them. Most of these disease conditions may result from various factors such as nutritional problems, hygiene as well as infectious agents (American Diabetes Association, 2014). These agents include bacteria, viruses, protozoa as well as fungi. A lot of research has been extensively carried out in in the management of many diseases. In the present day world, numerous therapeutic procedures in the control of certain disease have been identified. One of the methods is the use of the gut microbiome. While research in this area is still underway, a number of conditions have been shown to be controlled through the use of this therapeutic process. This paper explores the adoption of the gut microbiome in the management of diabetes.
Diabetes
Diabetes is a disease condition in which there are abnormally high blood sugar levels in an individual (American Diabetes Association, 2014). Usually, the condition results from problems with insulin, a hormone tasked with the regulation of blood sugar levels. Two categories of diabetes exist; type one and type two. One type of diabetes occurs as a result of the inability of the body to produce insulin while type two diabetes results from the defective production of insulin or insufficiency in its utilization (American Diabetes Association, 2014).
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Influence of the Gut Microbiome on Diabetes
The composition of the gut microbiome has been linked to the occurrence as well as management of diabetes in many individuals (American Diabetes Association, 2014). The gut microbiomes have the ability to influence key processes within one’s body. These processes include immunity as well as metabolism (Cani et al., 2012). Most patients suffering from diabetes have been shown to have major variations in the composition of their gut flora as compared to healthy individuals. Such research findings indicate that gut flora play a significant in the process of sugar metabolism and as a result, alteration in their composition predisposes individuals to diabetes (Cani et al., 2012). Additionally, the gut microbiomes also play a crucial role in the management of diabetes. For instance, studies show that diabetes patients who received fecal transplants from skinny individuals showed improvements in the management of the disease (He, Shan & Song, 2015). The fecal transplants altered the gut microbiome in the patients and helped improve insulin production and efficiency.
Research types Carried Out
Experiments were carried out in a bid to establish the connection between the gut microbiome and diabetes. For instance, fecal transplants were done in obese and diabetic patients in order to determine whether altering the gut flora composition would help in diabetes management (He, Shan & Song, 2015). Similar studies were also carried out in expectant mothers as reported by Hasan et al (2018). The studies involved the comparison of the gut flora among expectant women suffering from diabetes, healthy expectant women as well as the offspring from the two groups (Hasan et al., 2018). Research studies were also carried out using mice. According to Pahwa et al (2017), the composition of the gut flora in streptozotocin diabetic induced mice was very different from the control mice which were healthy. Such experiments have served to confirm the established relationship between the gut microbiome and diabetic patients.
Current Level of Understanding between Diabetes and the Gut Microbiome
Gut microbiome has been shown to be of great significance in the control of diabetes. However, alteration of the same flora can also act as a predisposing factor of diabetes (Cani et al., 2012). Several groups of bacteria from the gut flora. Some of these groups include the following; Firmicutes which form the bulk of the bacteria, actinobacteria, proteobacteria as well as bacteriodetes (Esteve et l., 2011). Patients suffering from diabetes have been shown to have very low levels of the Firmicutes group of bacteria in the gut (Cani et al., 2012). Additionally, these patients also have low levels of clostridia in the gut. While the patients present with reduced firmicutes levels, they tend to have high levels of the bacteriodetes group (Esteve et l., 2011). Moreover, levels of butyrate-producing bacteria are usually low in diabetic patients (Esteve et l., 2011). Studies on the composition of these gut microbiomes have greatly contributed to the steps in the understanding of the diabetes pathogenesis.
Adoption of the Management Techniques
While significant steps are being made in the area of gut microbiomes and diabetes management, vital therapeutic procedures have not yet been fully put into practice. In my opinion, this is a good thing to do since no conclusive results have been determined. It is important for the research to be completely carried out in order to determine how best the procedures and techniques involved can be useful. Moreover, there could be other alternative therapeutic procedures available currently.
Sensationalizing Claims about the Therapeutic Procedure
One of the striking factors from the research is the fecal transplant research study that has been found to be effective in the treatment of diabetes. While the study was aimed at determining the possibility of reintroducing new gut flora and changing the composition of the gut microbiomes in diabetic patients. However, it seems to be quite unhealthy. Diabetes, being one of the most common conditions worldwide, needs to be controlled in the most effective way. Since the use of gut microbiomes has been seen to be effective in its control, I would personally recommend the therapy to any patients. This is largely due to the fact that the process has been proven to control and manage the condition well.
References
American Diabetes Association. (2014). Standards of medical care in diabetes—2014. Diabetes care, 37(Supplement 1), S14-S80.
Cani, P. D., Osto, M., Geurts, L., & Everard, A. (2012). Involvement of gut microbiota in the development of low-grade inflammation and type 2 diabetes associated with obesity. Gut microbes, 3(4), 279-288.
Esteve, E., Ricart, W., & Fernandez-Real, J. M. (2011). Gut microbiota interactions with obesity, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes: did gut microbiota co-evolve with insulin resistance?. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition & Metabolic Care, 14(5), 483-490.
Hasan, S., Aho, V., Pereira, P., Paulin, L., Koivusalo, S. B., Auvinen, P., & Eriksson, J. G. (2018). Gut microbiome in gestational diabetes: a cross‐sectional study of mothers and offspring 5 years postpartum. Acta obstetrician et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 97(1), 38-46.
He, C., Shan, Y., & Song, W. (2015). Targeting gut microbiota as a possible therapy for diabetes. Nutrition Research, 35(5), 361-367.
Pahwa, R., Balderas, M., Jialal, I., Chen, X., Luna, R. A., & Devaraj, S. (2017). Gut Microbiome and Inflammation: A Study of Diabetic Inflammasome-Knockout Mice. Journal of Diabetes Research, 2017.
