Microbiome Medics

In this episode we explore the fascinating vaginal microbiome. With the expertise of Professor Sarah LeBeer, a leading scientist in the field , we unravel  the complexities of this unique microbial ecosystem and its crucial role in women's health. Listen in as we discuss the dominance of lactobacilli in maintaining vaginal health and their potential influence  on other aspects of  health and well-being. Professor Lebeer explains the  dynamic shifts the vaginal microbiome undergoes across the lifespan, and the  implications these changes may have on both maternal and newborn health.

This  conversation celebrates citizen science through the Isala project. This initiative not only uncovered pivotal insights into vaginal microbiome variations but also empowered women to engage in open dialogues about their vaginal health. We address the impacts of personal habits on this intriguing microbial ecosystem  and how the knowledge gained may help shape diagnostics and treatments in women's health.

To wrap up, we explore the potential of probiotics tailored for the vaginal microbiome and the challenges they present. As we sift through the confusion surrounding probiotic products, we share practical advice for healthcare professionals and patients alike on nurturing a healthy vaginal ecosystem. From diet to lifestyle choices, we offer resources and insights that encourage proactive stewardship of one's microbiome. So, whether you're a healthcare professional or simply someone interested in the wonders of the human body, this episode is packed with intriguing discoveries and actionable knowledge.

To find out more about Professor Lebeer's work:
https://lebeerlab.com/
https://isala.be/

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

Hello, fellow gut-health enthusiasts.

In this episode Dr. Siobhan McCormack and Dr. Sheena Fraser welcome you to a conversation about the popular fermented beverage that's sweeping the health world: kombucha. They explain what it is, how it’s made and what it might do for your gut health.

Learn about the celebrated SCOBY(symbiotic culture of bacteria& yeast) and how to brew your own kombucha before hearing from Emma & Kenny , founders of HIP POP beverages and fellow microbiome enthusiasts who tell us how they have turned a passion  for kombucha  into a thriving and rapidly expanding business.

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

As 2023 draws to a close, it is time for Microbiome Medics to pause and reflect on
12 months of podcasts, conferences, talks, and courses. All with the aim of raising
awareness of the importance of the gut microbiome (and other human microbiomes) to all aspects of healthcare.

Thankfully, they are not just stuffing your stocking with knowledge, but also
adding some holiday cheer. Tune in for a festive exchange of microbiome-related
gifts and book recommendations. Perfect for the curious minds in your life.
Plus, find out what microbiome nerds gift each other for Christmas at the
Microbiome Medics ‘not so secret Santa’ office party.

A Christmas message from Microbiome Medics
Thank you to all the listeners for your support, constructive feedback, and great
ideas and most of all, thank you for listening! Thank you also for the incredible
feedback we have had for our Gut Microbiome for Clinicians course, which endeavours
to provide an in-depth understanding of the gut microbiome for fellow HealthCare
Professionals.

Remember to take care of your microbiomes over the festive season, and we look
forward to another year of exploring, learning, and improving our health through
understanding the fascinating world of microbiomes.

Book Recommendations:

• There's a Zoo in my Poo by Felice Jacka & Rob Craw
• Dark Matter by Dr James Kinross
• Animal Moves by Darryl Edwards
• The Plant-based Diet Revolution by Dr Alan Desmond

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

'When I found myself teetering on the edge of prediabetes, I knew I needed to make a change. I chose movement, and it changed my life.' - On our latest episode, we discuss this journey with Darryl Edwards, a movement coach and author, who made this transformation. From a fascinating conversation about the Primal Play Method to an enlightening discussion on the transformative power of exercise on the gut microbiome, this episode is full of insights and inspiration.

We also delve into fascinating research on the effects of exercise on our gut health. Darryl and I explore interesting animal studies that show how physical activity can boost the presence of beneficial bacteria and reduce the number of harmful ones. We discuss how diet and other factors associated with athleticism can enhance these benefits. We also touch on the importance of nutrition for athletes, especially in relation to energy expenditure, mitochondrial function, and the production of short-chain fatty acids.

Finally, we explore the implications of modern sedentary lifestyles on our health and gut microbiomes. From the evolution of furniture to the advancement of technology, we discuss how our environments encourage inactivity. But it's never too late to make a change. Whether it's introducing exercise early in life, opting for outdoor activities like gardening, or just learning to move more, every step towards a more active lifestyle can have profound impacts on our health and gut microbiomes. So, join us on this journey of discovery and learn how to reclaim the joy of movement!

https://www.primalplay.com/blog/unlock-the-power-of-play-how-active-play-boosts-adult-health-happiness

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

In this podcast episode, Dr Sheena Fraser and Dr Siobhan Mccormack (aka Microbiome Medics) discuss the significant impact of antibiotics on the gut microbiome. They are joined by an expert in this area Dr Anastasia Theodosiou, who is both a Microbiome Scientist and a  Registar in Microbiology & Infectious Disease.

Dr Anastasia introduces her novel term Microbiotoxicity which can be used to  explain and  predict the effects of antibiotics on human  microbiomes. The discussion also covers other drugs like proton pump inhibitors and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) which can also perturb the gut microbiome. Listeners will gain insights into the recovery timeline of the gut microbiome after antibiotic exposure and the implications of gut microbiome disruptors like Caesarian section delivery and neonatal formula feeding on both gut health and other health outcomes across the lifespan. This episode highlights the importance considering the impact of medications on the gut microbiome and how we might start to bridge the gap between microbiome research and clinical practice.

Dr Theodosiou is an MRC Clinical Research Training Fellow (University of Southampton) and an Infectious Diseases and Medical Microbiology Registrar. Her research involves the use of controlled human infection to study microbiome development in early life, including the world’s first respiratory human challenge study in pregnancy.

https://idiotspodcasting.buzzsprout.com/1782416/13193172-56-antibiotics-breastfeeding-and-infant-health

Theodosiou AA, Jones CE, Read RC, Bogaert D. Microbiotoxicity: antibiotic usage and its unintended harm to the microbiome. Curr Opin Infect Dis. 2023;36(5):371-378. doi:10.1097/QCO.0000000000000945 https://www.hellomicro.org/post/microbiome-microbiotoxicity https://www.nbmedical.com/blog/microbiotoxicity

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:

The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

In this 3rd & final episode Dr Sheena & Dr Shiv get to chat to Professor Robert Thomas , a full time NHS Consultant Oncologist, Sorts and Nutrition scientist and active medical researcher who explains why he thinks the gut microbiome and gut health are key to cancer prevention, response cancer therapies and survivorship.

They discuss diet, research and patient empowerment. It seems that small, simple , achievable dietary and behaviour changes really can improve outcomes , overall wellbeing and survivorship. 

Professor Robert Thomas is a full time NHS Consultant Oncologist at Bedford and Addenbrooke's Hospitals, a teacher at Cambridge University and visiting Professor of Sports and nutritional science at the University of Bedfordshire. He trained at the Royal Marsden Hospital had period of full-time laboratory and clinical research at the Institute of Cancer and Duke University, North Carolina. He now manages patients with chemotherapy, radiotherapy, hormones and biological targeted treatments but incorporates nutritional and lifestyle strategies to enhance their effect, reduce side effects and improve overall wellbeing.

He is also head of a Lifestyle and Cancer Research Unit which designs and conducts government backed studies evaluating the impact of exercise, diet and natural therapies on cancer, other chronic diseases and more recently recovery from Covid-19. In collaboration with Universities in Southern California, Cambridge and Glasgow, this unit has published over 100 peer reviewed scientific papers and regularly presents studies across the World. He is a patron of two cancer support charities and advises Macmillan and other support groups on their informal materials for patients.

He previously led the UK Polybalm and Pomi-T randomised studies and currently leads the UK's covid-19 nutritional intervention study (The Phyto-V study) assessing whether prebiotic polyphenol rich foods plus a probiotic could lower the severity and duration of symptoms.

He is author of the UK bestseller "How to Live" and has been awarded The British Oncology Association “Oncologist of the Year” and The Royal College of Radiologist Research Medal.

Twitter: @cancernetUK

Facebook: @cancernetUK

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:

The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

In this 2nd episode on cancer and the gut microbiome , our Microbiome Medics duo continue their exploration of the impact of the gut microbiome on all aspects of cancer biology focusing on responses to cancer therapies and the potential effects of medications such as antibiotics and proton pump inhibitors on the resident microbes.

Dr Sheena discusses practical advice to improve gut health that she discusses with her NHS patients diagnosed with cancer and Dr Shiv introduces a few new concepts including the Oestrobolome and its importance to breast cancer and discusses a paper describing microbiomes within several different types of human cancers which may help further understanding of the impact of microorganisms on the hallmarks of cancer.

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

In the UK someone is diagnosed with cancer every two minutes. Every 4 minutes, someone dies of cancer. Startling statistics indeed, but did you know that human microbiomes, and the gut microbiome in particular, is pivotal to every aspect of cancer prevention, treatment response ,recovery and survivorship?

Given the importance of the subject, your loyal microbiome nerds, Dr Sheena and Dr Shiv, have chosen to allocate not one , not two, but three episodes of Microbiome Medics Podcast to this rapidly evolving and complex area of research.

In this first episode they get down and dirty with a cancer cell to figure out exactly how and why your resident gut micro-organisms might just be one of the most important resources you can utilise to harness the mighty power of your body’s remarkable and extensive anti-cancer systems. Dr Shiv thinks she can get you to fall in love with her favourite gut microbiome research paper and Dr Sheena gets all hot under the collar about the effect of sweeteners on gut microbiome function. Enjoy.

The paper discussed in this episode is:

O'Keefe SJ et al. Fat, fibre and cancer risk in African Americans and rural Africans. Nat Commun. 2015 Apr 28;6:6342. doi: 10.1038/ncomms7342.

Chakalaka recipe link: https://www.wikihow.life/Make-Chakalaka

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

Have you ever considered what difference infant feeding choice makes to long-term infant health? 

In this episode our two microbiome medics compare the impact of breast milk and formula milk on the developing infant gut microbiome. They  consider the rates of breast feeding in the UK and potential barriers to breast feeding, drawing on  their own experiences. Dr Shiv discusses a research paper from the USA  which looks at ‘re-wilding’ the infant gut microbiome with Bifidobacterium Infantis. 

The research paper discussed this episode:

O’Brien CE, Meier AK, Cernioglo K, Mitchell RD, Casaburi G, Frese SA, et al. Early probiotic supplementation with B. infantis in breastfed infants leads to persistent colonization at 1 year. Pediatr Res. 2022 Feb;91(3):627–36.

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.

You are 50% microbial by cell count, and your gut microbiome is central to all aspects of your physiology and health. The Microbiome Medics think you should know where the trillions of bacteria living in your intestines come from.

In this episode of Microbiome Medics, our microbiome obsessed duo discuss the importance of birth mode on gut microbiome acquisition. They highlight the massive increases in Caesarean section rates, and even chat about their own birth experiences. (Spoiler alert...it hurt)

Not to be missed by anyone born by vaginal delivery or caesarian section (or both).

That means you, by the way.  Get listening!

Discussed in this episode:

Korpela K, de Vos WM. Infant gut microbiota restoration: state of the art. Gut Microbes. 2022;14(1):2118811.
Shao Y et al. Stunted microbiota, and opportunistic pathogen colonization in caesarean section birth. Nature. 2019;574(7776):117–121.

This podcast is brought to you in collaboration with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine.

Disclaimer:
The content in this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor or qualified healthcare provider. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.